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THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
A STUDY OF ITS HISTORY IN COMMEMORATION
OF ITS SESQUICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
BY
CHARLES RICHARD WILLIAMS
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON
1916
i^t\'
Copyright 1916, by
Princeton University Press
Published, November, 1916
TO
ALL THAT RECALL WITH PLEASURE THE
JOY OF OLD HALL NIGHTS AND THAT
ARE GRATEFUL FOR CLIo's BENEFACTION
' 356654
FOREWORD
The committee constituted, early in the year 1915,
by the Cliosophic Society to prepare for the proper
celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary
of the founding of the Society, decided that the princi-
pal feature of the commemoration should be the publica-
tion of a history of the Society. A special committee
on history was named of which Professor V. L. Collins
was made chairman. It is the unwritten law of America
in regard to committees that the chairman shall do all
the work. But Professor Collins, aided and abetted
by other members of the committee, laid the burden
upon me, the least and last of the committee. Always
loyal to Clio, I could not on the instant think of a
good reason for refusing; and so — with much reluc-
tance — I undertook the task. What I have written,
however, has had the careful scrutiny and the revising
pen of Professor Collins. For all errors of omission or
commission, therefore, let those who may read hold him
equally responsible.
It is my hope that the sons of Clio may find some-
what to interest them in the record of the Society here
presented ; that it may deepen their devotion and inten-
sify their loyalty to the muse they claim as patron.
Charles Richard Williams
Princeton, April, 1916
CONTENTS
PAGJE
Foreword v
I The Founding and the Founders 1
II Development and Discipline 20
III The Homes of Clio 54
IV Relations and Rivalries 84
V Public Competitions and Honors 117
VI Insignia, Initiation, and Secrecy 145
VII Interests and Incidents 166
VIII The Sons of Clio 187
Afterword 211
CHAPTER I
The Founding and the Founders
The Cliosophic Society came into being June 8,
1770 — that is to say, under this name. It was a re-
suscitation or rehabilitation of the Well-Meaning So-
ciety which was founded not later than 1765. For
certain it is that in that year there existed in the
College two literary societies, one known as the Plain-
Speaking, and the other as the Well-Meaning Society.
Doubtless other literary societies had been formed and
lived for short periods before these two were consti-
tuted ; but these were of more permanent character, had
a better organization, adopted insignia, and gave their
graduates diplomas. Possibly they were in existence
before 1765, for some of the men that have always been
accounted the founders of our Society graduated be-
fore that year. But these men were at Princeton in
1765, pursuing professional studies, and it is not at all
extraordinary that, desiring practice in speaking and
debate, they should have cooperated with undergradu-
ates in creating the Society ; with their larger experience
and maturity, indeed, they may naturally have been
the leaders of the enterprise. It is a significant fact that
1
2 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
no member of the class of 1764 is recorded as belong-
ing to the Society. That is hard to account for if the
Society was then in existence; much harder to explain,
indeed, than participation in the formation of the So-
ciety in 1765 of five graduates.
It is no wonder that in that year the young men of
Princeton desired to meet for discussion. It was a time
of general ferment. As Dr. Howard Duffield, in his
oration at the laying of the comer-stone of the present
Hall, June 20, 1890, said: "Seventeen hundred and
sixty-five ushered in the days that tried men's souls.
Then did arrogant power with insolent tone proclaim
the Stamp Act. Then was Boston Harbor 'black with
unexpected tea.' Then did America arise to 'resist her
wrongs and lay hold upon her destiny.' Then did
Princeton students refuse to wear the fabrics of foreign
looms, and the 'blazers' of 1765 were homespun. Then
did Princeton's commencement stage ring with periods
most eloquent concerning the right of independence, the
love of country, and the worth of liberty; sentiments
that were soon to be proclaimed by the bell-tongue of the
old Philadelphia State House until both shores of the
Atlantic echoed with its peal."
For reasons no longer clear the two societies soon fell
into disrepute with the Faculty. Probably their in-
tense rivalry, resulting in so-called "paper wars," in
which anonymous attacks by members of one Society on
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 3
men of the other, of a more or less scurrilous nature,
found currency, had led to excesses of conduct or con-
flict that were deemed detrimental to the best interests
of the College. Whatever the reasons were, the Faculty
in 1768 or 1769, soon after the accession to the Presi-
dency of that great Scotch philosopher and ardent
American patriot, John Witherspoon, suppressed both
societies.
In 1841 a committee, appointed by the Hall to in-
quire into the Society's early history, made a report
which contained the following statement from the Rev-
erend Nathan Perkins, of the class of 1770: "When
I first became a member of the College of New Jersey
(fall of 1766) there were two literary institutions con-
nected with it, called the Well-Meaning and the Plain-
Dealing Societies. The object of the Well-Meaning
was to collect the first young men in point of character
and scholarship as its members. But the object of the
Plain-Dealing was to outnumber the Well-Meaning. In
the year 1768 or 1769 dissensions arose between the
members of the two societies, and the tide of unpleasant
feeling arose to such a height that the Faculty of the
College judged it expedient to abolish both. They
were accordingly abolished in 1769. There was no
literary institution connected with the College for some
months."
Whether the societies or any proportion of their
4 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
members continued to hold surreptitious or informal
meetings, as some faint tradition suggests, can not
now be determined ; though no one acquainted with stu-
dent characteristics would be surprised if they did. In
any event, the need for student societies for debate and
extra-curriculum literary effort was not extinguished.
It was a period of intense political agitation and discus-
sion of fundamental principles of government; thought
was ripening for the fast approaching revolt of the col-
onies. The young colonials felt that they must have
place and opportunity for free interchange of opinion —
a forum for controversy and mutual criticism. So, in
the early summer of 1769, former members of the Plain-
Dealing Society, most conspicuous of whom were James
Madison, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and Philip Fre-
neau, all of the class of 1771, and William Bradford,
of the class of 1772, got together and formed a new
society, taking for motto Literae, Amicitia, Mores, and
named it the American Whig Society, reflecting by their
name their sympathy with and interest in the liberal
and progressive element of British politics. Our sister
society, as the successor of the Plain-Dealing Society,
would be justified in claiming the date of the founding of
the latter as the date of its beginning, but it has been
content to adhere to the date of its reconstitution and
renaming, June 24, 1769, as its natal day.
It was the following year, 1770, that the remnant of
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 5
the Well-Meaning Society came together again and as-
sumed the name of the Cliosophic Society. For fifty
years the Society continued to reckon 1770 as its date of
origin, though it had always regarded the founders of
the Well-Meaning Society as its own progenitors, and
had accepted all its members as entitled to its fellowship.
In view of this inconsistency, and in the interest of his-
torical accuracy, it was decided, on the basis of informa-
tion contained in letters received from several of the
oldest members of the Society then living, — ^letters,
unfortunately, that were neither preserved nor recorded
in the minutes, — that the proper date of the beginning
of the Society was not the year when it was reestab-
lished and took its new name, but the year when it was
believed to have been formed as the Well-Meaning So-
ciety. That year was determined at the time, on evi-
dence no longer extant, when some of the earliest
members of the Society were still living, to have been
1765. The decisive action in officially declaring the
earlier date was taken April 5, 1820, when it was re-
solved "that the seal of the Society be changed from
what it now is (1770) to the year 1765." But if a
record in the manuscript annals of the Society, carefully
compiled by David R. Love, of the class of 1858, is
correctly assigned to the year 1816 (and internal evi-
dence indicates that it is), this action was only in con-
firmation of the practical recognition and adoption of
6 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
the earlier date some years before. That record gives an
exact description of the gold watch-key to be presented
by the Society to such of its members as graduated from
College with high honors. On the key was to be in-
scribed: "Founded in 1765."
Professor Henry Clay Cameron in his "History of
Whig Hall" advances considerations of some though not
convincing weight in favor of an earlier date for the
formation of the two parent societies. But the question
is not of serious import. It is certain in any event that
our Society, in its first form and with its first name,
existed in 1765. No positive proof can be discovered
that it existed before that year. We are thus entirely
justified in adhering to that date.
The men who had most to do in forming and giving
character to the Well-Meaning Society, and so to the
Cliosophic Society, were William Paterson, Oliver Ells-
worth, Luther Martin, Tapping Reeve, and Robert
Ogden. That these men were men of unusual force and
ability their subsequent careers abundantly prove. Pro-
fessor George Musgrave Giger, in his centennial "His-
tory of the Cliosophic Society," devotes many pages to
sketches of their lives. It is sufficient for our purpose
to give a very brief resume of the salient facts in their
careers. Of the men just named, those who accom-
plished most in the service of humanity, who attained
greatest distinction, were the three first.
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 7
William Paterson graduated in 1763, but for some
years after that time he continued to live at Princeton,
studying law with Richard Stockton, or not far away,
and to keep up his relations with student life, taking an
interested part in the development and activities of our
Society. Letters of his written during this period show
that he was already well read in literature, that he pos-
sessed a lively fancy and wielded a graceful pen, and
give evidence that he had many friends to whom he was
devoted. He had no premonition that a great public
career was awaiting him. In February 1769, writing to
his dearest friend, John Macpherson (destined to fall at
Quebec in December, 1775), he said: "To live at ease
and pass through life without much noise and bustle is
all for which I care or wish. One of the principal things
I regard is to be situated well with regard to friends."
But this dream of ease soon faded away in the stirring
times that were fast coming on.
During the stormy years of the Revolutionary period
he was constantly in public life. He was a member and
one of the secretaries of the Provincial Congress in
1775-76 which drafted the first constitution of the State
of New Jersey; and treasurer at the same time of the
Province. On the adoption of the state constitution
he was made Attorney-General of the State and served
until the declaration of peace in 1783, when he removed
from Somerville to New Brunswick and resumed the
8 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
private practice of the law. In the Convention at Phila-
delphia in 1787 which formed the Constitution of the
United States, Paterson was one of the delegates from
New Jersey. Three of his fellow delegates were also
members of the Cliosophic Society, Oliver Ellsworth,
Luther Martin, and Jonathan Dayton. Paterson was
a protagonist for the interests of the small States, and
it was he that presented to the Convention the famous
New Jersey plan. While this failed of adoption, it pre-
pared the way that kd to the finally accepted compro-
mise which gave the States equality of representation in
the Senate. Professor Max Farrand (Clio, '92) in his
able book, "The Framing of the Constitution,'' while
erroneously stating that Mr. Paterson had been a mem-
ber of the Continental Congress and a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, shows with great clearness
the influential part that Paterson played in the delibera-
tions of the Convention. He says : "Short of stature,
unassuming in appearance and manner, Paterson was
all the more astonishing in debate, where he revealed
wide knowledge and great ability."
On the formation of the Union, Mr. Paterson was
chosen one of the first two Senators of the State ; but he
soon retired from the Senate on being elected Governor
of the State. It was while he was Governor that the
new settlement, which is now the prosperous city of
Paterson, was named in his honor. Before his second
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 9
term as Governor expired, Washington, March 4, 1793,
appointed him to the bench of the Supreme Court of the
United States which he continued to adorn until his
death in 1806. Many notable decisions came from his
pen. And, apart from his judicial duties, Paterson
was busy with many other concerns of public interest,
the most important of which was the digest and revision
of the legal code of New Jersey, a task undertaken at
the request of the Legislature. Washington at one
time wished him to become Attorney-General; at an-
other, to succeed Jefferson as Secretary of State, but he
preferred to remain on the bench. From 1787 to 1802
Paterson was a trustee of the College. On more than
one occasion in these years he presided at the annual
meeting of the Hall in commencement week.
In all capacities he was a far-sighted, clear-headed,
vigorous-minded, and efficient personality ; a wise states-
man, an upright judge, a scholar, a Christian gentle-
man, a big man, who left a lasting impress on his time
and country. We do well to give him special honor as
chief among the founders of our Society.
Even more distinguished than the career of Paterson
was that of Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, who grad-
uated in 1766. He quickly gained prominence at the
bar in his native State, was a delegate to the General
Assembly of the State which met soon after the battle
of Lexington, and was throughout the Revolutionary
10 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
War a member of the Continental Congress. He was
one of the delegates from Connecticut in the Constitu-
tional Convention and a sturdy advocate of the federal
idea as embodied in the New Jersey plan, which Pater-
son presented, and in behalf of the equality of the States
in the Senate. In the Convention he was /characterized
by a Southern delegate as "a gentleman of a clear,
deep, and copious understanding; eloquent and con-
nected in public debate and always attentive to his
public duty. He is very happy in reply, and choice in
selecting such parts of his adversary's arguments as
he finds makes the strongest impressions, in order to
take off the force of them so as to admit the power of
his own." Very great and desirable qualities, if you
stop to consider, in any orator, who wishes to accom-
plish results. Ellsworth urged the acceptance of the
Constitution by Connecticut in a notable speech in the
Hartford Convention of 1788. He was one of the first
Senators from his State and became, in the words of
John Adams, "the firmest pillar of Washington's whole
administration in the Senate."
In 1796 Washington appointed Ellsworth Chief Jus-
tice of the Supreme Court. He held this post until 1799
when he was appointed by John Adams one of the
special envoys to France for the negotiation of a treaty
in settlement of the controversies between the two coun-
tries. On the satisfactory conclusion of this under-
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 11
taking, he returned in 1801 to this country, intending
to retire altogether from public service, to which he had
devoted more than twenty-five years of his life. But
despite his impaired health, he accepted the following
year election to the Governor's Council and served in
that until his death in November 1807.
Ellsworth was one of the forceful and efficient actors
in the formative stage of the Republic. As Daniel
Webster said of him once in the Senate, on quoting from
his famous speech in the Hartford Convention, he was
"a gentleman who has left behind him on the records of
the government of his country proofs of the clearest
intelligence, and of the utmost purity and integrity of
character."
Last of the distinguished trio was Luther Martin, a
classmate of Ellsworth. He himself, in his old age,
gave the greatest credit for the formation of the So-
ciety to Paterson and Ellsworth. This he did in a
letter to the clerk of the Society regretting his inability
to act as President of the annual meeting. The letter
is preserved in the minutes for August 2, 1815. It is so
interesting, not only for the information it conveys, but
also for its old-time flavor of courtesy and dignity, that
it is here given in full :
Baltimore, 31 July, 1815.
Mr. George W. Toland,
Sir : — I have this moment received your favour of the
twenty-eighth instant informing me of the undeserved
12 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
honour conferred on me by the Cliosophic Society in
selecting me President of that highly respectable body
for their next annual meeting, and soliciting my attend-
ance at that time.
No person could be more sensible of so flattering a
distinction, and I receive it with the sincerest pleasure
as a proof of your respect and approbation; but a
consciousness of my deficiency for, as well as the impos-
sibility of my attendance upon, the duties of that station
to which I have been so unmeritedly selected, compels
me, tho' with real regret, to decline the honour conferred
upon me, of which I take the earliest opportunity to
notify you, that you may not be delayed from making
a more suitable choice. I had the felicity, for so I
considered it, of being an early member of that [So-
ciety] ; but to my distinguished friends, who are no
more, the late Honourable Oliver Ellsworth and William
Paterson, it was, I believe, indebted for its institution
more, perhaps, than to any other persons.
Receive, sir, for yourself and the other members of
your respectable body, and be pleased to communicate to
them my unfeigned and ardent wishes for the happiness
of each of them individually, as well as for the useful-
ness and prosperity of their society in its collective
capacity.
I have the honour to be very respectfully
Your obd't Serv't
Luther Martin.
Martin was a native of Metuchen, New Jersey, but
immediately after his graduation he migrated to Mary-
land where he spent the greatest part of his life. He
rose to eminence at the bar, was Attorney-General of the
State and a judge at Baltimore. He, too, was a member
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 13
of the Constitutional Convention and with Paterson
and Ellsworth was a defender of the interests of the
small States. But, unlike these two friends and fel-
low Clios of his, he was not reconciled to the final com-
promises of the Constitution and vainly sought to
influence the people of Maryland against its adoption.
He was an ardent friend of Aaron Burr and one of the
lawyers that successfully defended him when he was
tried for treason. He was accounted one of the ablest
lawyers of his day ; but he was constitutionally a spend-
thrift and he died in New York in extreme old age and
poverty, a pensioner on the bounty of Aaron Burr.
Dr. E. M. Hunt ('49), of Metuchen, read at the
annual meeting of 1875 a sketch of Martin's life, in
which he recalled that Martin graduated with first
honors, and said in closing: "He was as profound and
learned as any constitutional lawyer of his day, but as
he says himself was 'prodigal of everything but time.'
He added laborious investigation to native genius and
had many qualities worthy of memorial by those who
within these walls today reap the benefit of his organ-
izing mind and his indefatigable zeal."
Tapping Reeve, of Long Island, graduated in 1763
and was later a tutor in the College. He married a
daughter of President Burr, He became a leading
lawyer and jurist in Connecticut, being for some time
Chief Justice, and for many years conducted a law school
14 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
which attracted many students at Litchfield. This he
started in 1792. It was the first law school founded in
this country.
Robert Ogden, a native of New Jersey, graduated
in 1765, but remained in Princeton for some time after
graduation, studying law under Richard Stockton along
with William Paterson. He practiced his profession at
Elizabethtown, rapidly rising to distinction. He was
an ardent patriot during the Revolution, but, while two
of his brothers were officers in active service, physical
disability prevented him from engaging therein. As
quartermaster and commissary of stores, however, he
rendered important if inconspicuous service to the pa-
triot cause, displaying a zeal and resourcefulness, even
at his own expense, in the performance of his duties
which won him great praise. Impairment of health
forced him into retirement when about forty years old.
Thenceforward he lived on a farm in Sussex County,
cultivating and improving his land, active in the church,
and keeping up his reading of the Greek, Latin, and
English classics. He was wise in counsel, a good friend
and neighbor — altogether a gentle, kindly, wholesome
man.
A few words may well be added about some of the
other earliest members. These included Jonathan
Dickinson Sergeant (1762), a grandson of President
Dickinson, who was a Delegate to the Continental Con-
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 15
gress from New Jersey and, after removal to Philadel-
phia, the first Attorney-General of the State of
Pennsylvania; Joel Benedict ^65)^ divine, jurist, Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Senate, and Member of Con-
gress; Jonathan Edwards C65), son of President
Edwards, tutor in the college, long an able and eloquent
preacher, and for the last two years of his life (1799-
1801) President of Union College; Ebenezer Pemberton
('65), tutor in the College and all his long life devoted
to teaching and scholarship, being for many years at
Phillips Academy, Andover, of which he was principal
for seven years, and receiving honorary degrees from
many colleges; Theodore Dirck Romeyn ^65)^ sl most
influential preacher and theologian of the Dutch Re-
formed Church, and a principal force in the founding
of Union College at Schenectady, where he was long
pastor; Simeon Williams C65), pastor at Weymouth,
Massachusetts, for more than fifty years; Waightstill
Avery {^66), prominent lawyer and politician in North
Carolina, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Resolu-
tions ; Hezekiah James Balch ('66), likewise a signer of
the Mecklenburg Resolutions, but who died in 1776 in
the early years of his ministry; Nathaniel Niles {^66)9
legislator and judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont,
Member of Congress, six times a presidential elector,
and for many years a trustee of Dartmouth College;
John WoodhuU ('66), eminent divine and teacher of
16 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
theology at Freehold for forty-five years, and nearly
as long a trustee of the College.
Thus, of the twenty- two young men who in 1765
created the Well-Meaning Society, who gave it its origi-
nal impulse and direction, — which were carried over
into the Cliosophic Society, — fifteen in their later
careers became leaders in the civic, political, educa-
tional, and religious life of their time; several of them
attaining large influence and leaving lasting impres-
sions behind. It is perhaps worthy of note that all of
these first members, of whom we have record, with the
single exception of Balch, who came from Maryland,
were from the northern Provinces. It is true, to be
sure, that in our Hall catalogue Avery and Balch are
set down as from North Carolina, and Martin from
Maryland. But Avery was from Connecticut and Balch
from Maryland and they did not go to North Carolina
until some years after graduation. Martin was from
New Jersey and went to Maryland after graduation. Of
the number, eleven were natives of New Jersey, three of
Connecticut, and one each of New York, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Maryland. Of the remaining four
we have no record.
Altogether we have the names of forty-five or forty-
six men who were members of the Well-Meaning Society
before its suppression. Of those who joined after
1765, the men that became most famous were Pierpont
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 17
Edwards ('68), Delegate to the Continental Congress
and judge of the United States District Court of Con-
necticut; William Channing ('69), Attorney-General
of Rhode Island; James Linn ('69), Delegate to the
Continental Congress, Secretary of State of New Jer-
sey; Thomas Melville ('69), a member of the Boston
tea party, major in the Continental army, and Naval
Officer of the port of Boston for forty years, having
first been appointed by Washington in 1789 ; John Tay-
lor ('70), professor of mathematics and natural phi-
losophy in Queen's College (Rutgers) and later in
Union College.
It was June 8, 1770, as already noted, when the So-
ciety was revived or reformed, and when, by assuming
its present name, it avowed its devotion to the muse of
history. This date for nearly one hundred years was
celebrated annually by the Hall with special memorial
exercises. The men credited with being most active
in the rehabilitation of the Society were Nathan Per-
kins, of Connecticut, Isaac Smith, of New Hampshire,
John Smith, of Massachusetts, and Robert Stewart, of
New York, — all of the class of 1770. All these men
became clergymen, the best known being Mr. Perkins,
who was pastor at West Hartford, Connecticut, for
sixty-six years, and who prepared a large number of
young men for college and for the ministry.
The men of the first years of the reconstituted Society
18 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
that in after life rose to greatest prominence and useful-
ness were Frederick Frelinghuysen ('70), Delegate to the
Continental Congress, United States Senator, and trus-
tee of the College; Aaron Burr ('72), lieutenant-colonel
in the Revolution, Attorney-General of New York,
United States Senator, and Vice-President of the United
States; Henry Lee ('78), colonel in the Revolutionary
army ("Light Horse Harry"), Delegate to the Conti-
nental Congress, Governor of Virginia, and Member of
Congress in 1799, when he was selected to pronounce in
Congress the eulogy on Washington, in which he coined
the immortal characterization, "first in war, first in
peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen" ; Morgan
Lewis ('76), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and
Attorney-General of New York, United States Senator
and Governor of New York; Aaron Ogden ('73), Chan-
cellor and Governor of New Jersey, United States Sena-
tor, trustee of the College; John Ewing Calhoun ('74),
United States Senator from South Carolina; Henry
Brockholst Livingston ('74), Chief Justice of the Su-
preme Court of New York, Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States, succeeding Wil-
liam Paterson; Jonathan Mason ('74), Member of
Congress and Senator from Mass'achusetts ; Andrew
Kirkpatrick ('75), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of New Jersey, and a trustee of the College; Isaac
Tichenor ('75), United States Senator, Chief Justice
FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS 19
of the Supreme Court, and Governor of Vermont ; Jona-
than Dayton ('76), Delegate to the American Congress,
member of the Constitutional Convention, Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives, and United
States Senator from New Jersey.
Several other men of this period did conspicuous serv-
ice in the army, in the church, at the bar, or in educa-
tional work. Indeed, it is not too much to say that a
larger proportion of the young men who were members
of the Society in those first formative years of its
existence became in after life distinguished and influ-
ential citizens than in any similar period of the Society's
history.
CHAPTER II
Development and Discipline
The Revolutionary War brought dark and distressful
days for Nassau Hall. It was occupied at one time and
another by the soldiers of both armies, who committed
many depredations. The College was sadly disorgan-
ized for a time and students were few. The result was
that for three or four years our Society was in a state
of suspended animation. In the four classes 1777 to
1780 our records show only six members; one each in
the classes of '77 and '79, two each in the classes of '78
and '80. But when the clouds lifted the Society was
promptly revived. The date marking this renewal of
activity was July 4, 1781 ; and for many decades this
day was specially celebrated by the Hall, not only as
a national holiday but as its own second birthday. Since
then there has been no interruption in the Society's
continuous and beneficent activity.
Unfortunately, the earliest records of the Hall are
no longer in existence. Those of the first few years were
lost in the confusion of the time when Nassau Hall was
occupied by the British soldiers. It is probable that
the records of the first eleven years after the revival of
20
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 21
the Society in 1781 perished in the flames which com-
pletely destroyed the interior of Nassau Hall in March,
1802; though we have no definite information on this
score. In any event the earliest minutes we have are
those of the summer of 1792. Since that time, with few
brief hall generation failing to appreciate their impor-
80 carefully as they should have been ; but still as well,
perhaps, as could be expected in a body whose member-
ship changes so rapidly.
It is a source of lasting regret, however, that other
records, — letters, reports, catalogues, books, insignia,
etc. — which now would be of extreme interest in tracing
the development and changes in the Society, have for the
most part entirely disappeared, the students of each
brief hall generation failing to appreciate their impor-
tance; and oftentimes, especially when the Hall was
passing through periods of crisis or great excitement,
the minutes are tantalizingly meagre. The briefest
allusion to what every one at the time knows and fully
understands is naturally all that the clerk for the time
being thinks necessary. He records the mere facts of
to-night's meeting with almost sole reference to report-
ing them at the next meeting, and with no thought of
how unsatisfactory his report may be to some later
generation, when the vexing problems of his day have
ceased to be problems at all, and the conditions of stu-
dent and hall life have radically changed.
«2 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
The earliest resume of hall life and conditions found
in our records is given in the minutes of the annual
meeting, held September 26, 1792. It is a transcript
of the "Triennial Circular Letter" to be sent out to the
graduate members of the Society. It contains so much
of interest that it is worthy of being given here in full :
Cliosophic Society,
Princeton, September, 1792.
Sir : — It is with regret that we observe that the union
which subsisted between the members of the Cliosophic
Society has been greatly interrupted by the disturb-
ances which the war occasioned. Distance of place and
the want of information concerning the present state of
the Society have also prevented many of the members
from renewing their former friendships and intercourse.
This has been cause of real pain to attending members.
Prompted, therefore, by our earnest desire to promote a
union so pleasing and beneficial to us, and requested by
several non-attending members, we beg leave to acquaint
you with the present condition of our institution.
The members of the Society are now numerous
(amounting to ... [the number was nearly forty] ;
a list of their names is enclosed), and we are safe in
asserting that they have obtained by their diligence and
ability a full share of those honorary distinctions which
are conferred by the Faculty of the College. The ob-
jects of the institution are the same that it embraced
before the Revolution and are pursued on the same plan.
After an occasional interruption by the war, the So-
ciety was revived on the 4th of July 1781, and all per-
sons who had belonged to it were again enrolled as
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 2S
members. The papers, records, and library of the So-
ciety were lost amidst the general commotion. This
circumstance has rendered the list of members incom-
plete, as the names have been supplied from memory
only. The members of the Well-Meaning Society are
received as full members on taking the usual oath.
The meetings of the Society are held on every Wed-
nesday for the performance of the usual exercises.
There are also three annual meetings — ^one on the 8th
of June for the institution, another on the 4th of July
for the revival of the Society; the last on the evening
of the day of the annual Commencement of the College.
It would be peculiarly grateful to us if, in passing
through this place, it were convenient for you to attend
our meetings and by your presence contribute to en-
courage and direct us in our endeavours to improve in
literature and science. It is our present wish that the
intimacy which was formerly maintained may be re-
vived and continued with all sincerity. And we look with
affection to you and hope by your exertions to favour
this desirable end.
The funds of the Society now consist of monies aris-
ing from the entrance money and yearly payment of
each member of the Society; from which — with the lib-
eral subscriptions among the attending members — and
from the donations of absent members we have been
enabled to repair the damages which the Hall sustained
by the ravages of the war and [to] procure a handsome
library. We have not completed the number of books
which it is proposed to render our collection as useful
as we wish. To accomplish this difficult object, we shall
with pleasure acknowledge any donations in money or
books which it may be convenient for you to make to
the Society.
24 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
The Society, from ignorance of the place of residence
of many of the absent members, request your assistance
in distributing the information of this letter to such of
the members whose residence may be in your neighbor-
hood or part of the country.
With sentiments of affection and friendship.
This letter suggests many observations. It is evi-
dent from the first sentence that in the early years of
the Society graduate members continued to manifest
particular interest in its activities, and whenever possi-
ble to participate in its exercises. The number of mem-
bers was small, and it was natural that the closest sort
of friendship and intimacy should grow up among
them, and that their pleasantest memories of college life
should cluster about the Hall. We know from other
sources that this was especially true in the case of Mr.
Paters on, as long as he lived in and near Princeton.
Paterson, indeed, frequently took part in the exercises
of the Society. As late as 1772 he read before the So-
ciety a poem of some length, entitled "The Belle of
Princeton," in which he gallantly celebrated the virtues
and charms of Miss Betsey Stockton, a niece of Richard
Stockton. What the poem lacked in literary merit it
made up for in ardor — such, to be sure, that Paterson's
friends had no doubt that his feelings were deeply en-
gaged. A few verses will give the quality of this fervid
outpouring :
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 25
"Hail, Betsey, hail, thou Virgin bright
And mild as the chaste orb of night.
Betsey all hail! Rapt in amaze.
Thy beauties o'er & o'er I gaze;
Feast on each Charm, each Charm devour
Whilst stript of almost ev'ry Pow'r
Save that of Light, I gaze & gaze
'Til dazzl'd with all Beauty's Blaze
I prostrate fall; and where before
I only gazed at, now adore.
Her hair, had might in Cupid's eyes,
He sure would of her Hair make Prize
To string his Bow, so soft, so fine.
And of the beautifullest shine.
Her eyes, on which I gaze so oft.
Are blue and languishingly soft.
Full piercing as the Solar ray
And mild too as the op'ning Day.
Her Forehead's polish'd, smooth and eavn.
Her Eyebrows like the Arch of Heav'n.
Her cheeks are of the Roses Hue,
Her Lips sweet as the balmy Dew.
Her Lips, no mortal can declare
How round, how soft, how sweet they are;
Her Lips, where all the graces stray.
Where all the Loves delight to play.
Modest & candid, soft and mild.
Of Temper, gentle as a child.
Of Pity, full: the Tears still flow
When e'er she hears a tale of Woe.
Her temper calm, serene & ev'n
As vernal Day, or op'ning Heav'n,
Virtue o'er all her thoughts preside,
Reason doth all her Passions guide;
Her Passions like the grateful gale.
That fans the Lilly of the Vale,
That fans the op'ning rose of May
Serves just to keep the soul in Play.
26 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Such are her charms: perhaps you'll call
It Fiction, Fancy, Fancy All;
Come then th' Original and view.
You'll own the Copy Just & true."
It was cause for genuine regret to the Cliosophians
in 1792 that this pristine closer relationship, or "un-
ion," of graduate and active members had been inter-
rupted. Active members at that time, and for many
succeeding decades, were always spoken of as "attend-
ing members"; graduate members, sometimes as "non-
attending," but much more commonly as "absent mem-
bers." Thus, a Clio student, writing in 1786, speaks
of seeing "an absent member of ours in the [Prayer]
Hall" and of going "to the stage house to take leave
of an absent member of our Society, travelling for his
health." So, too, in the minutes of July 25, 1792, we
read of the institution of "a congratulatory address to
absent Brothers to be delivered at the annual meeting" ;
the records of annual meetings tell us that such and such
"absent members" were present; and the minutes of the
annual meeting of September 24, 1800, quaintly say:
"Mr. Mifflin delivered a congratulatory address to the
non-attending members."
The meetings of the Society at that time were held
on Wednesday evening (the Whigs meeting Monday
evening) as they had been from the beginning. This
continued to be the day of meeting until January, 1839,
DEVELOPMENT ANH DISCIPLINE 27
several months after the Society had become established
in its new Hall. The change was made after conference
with our friends the Whigs. From that time on the
meetings of both Halls were held, as never before, on
the same evening, Friday, and it was arranged with
the Faculty that "no recitation should take place on
the following morning before breakfast." Besides the
regular weekly and fixed annual meetings there were
"occasional" meetings, as special or extra meetings were
long designated in the minutes ("special" began to ap-
pear in 1819), at the call of the President for the trans-
action of special business or to initiate and entertain
distinguished guests.
The minute of an "occasional meeting" of January 9,
1799, can not fail to pique one's curiosity. It reads:
"The object of the meeting this evening was to propose
Miss Frances Smith and Miss Margaret Morton as
members of Society; but, upon objection being oflfered
by some of the members, the proposition was with-
drawn." One can not doubt that a most interesting story
lies behind this bare recital. We do not know positively
who either of the young ladies was. The time was dur-
ing the Presidency of Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, son-
in-law and successor of the great Witherspoon. Dr.
Smith had a daughter Frances, who was at that time
in her nineteenth year. So, it seems altogether probable
that she was the Miss Frances Smith proposed, in spite
28 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
of the fact that her father was a Whig. It is also prob-
able that Miss Morton was a guest of Miss Smith, from
New York, and a sister of George Clark Morton (Clio,
1795). Nor can we imagine what service the young
ladies may have rendered to the Hall that suggested the
propriety of their nomination. Mrs. Richard Stockton
had been accounted a member of the American Whig
Society because during the suspension of that Society in
the Revolution she had preserved the Society's furniture
and records. So, it may well be inferred that Miss
Smith and Miss Morton must have served the Cliosophic
Society in some signal manner that seemed to some of
the members to justify the unprecedented and unique
distinction of electing them to membership. Why could
not the clerk have given details in this instance .^^ But
objection was offered by some ungallant members, — we
are glad we do not know their names, — and so Miss
Frances Smith and Miss Margaret Morton were not
admitted to our fellowship, and we are left to wonder
about the entire episode. We only know that these two
young ladies are the only women that ever were proposed
for admission to the Hall.
"The objects of the institution are the same that it
embraced before the Revolution and are pursued on the
same plan," reads the letter. These were felt, at the
time, to be too well known to require specification. Now
we may remind ourselves of them by quoting a sentence
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE S9
from a letter addressed to the Society in February,
1799, by the Hon. Jonathan Dayton, of the class of
1776: ^'To promote mutual improvement, to inspire a
virtuous emulation, to cultivate brotherly affection were
the primary objects of the institution and have been
uniformly kept in view through the successive changes of
membership for very many years." Doubtless, there
has been no time since when a graduate member, think-
ing of the spirit and influence of the Hall, might not
have used substantially the same language. It is only
a paraphrase and amplification of the officially declared
object of the Society, "the cultivation of friendship
and the enlargement of the mind."
A stereotyped formula in reporting the weekly meet-
ings was : "The exercises were performed as usual" ; but
sometimes the clerk would add in parenthesis "not so
well" or "better." These exercises consisted of speeches,
or "harangues," by the officers, declamations by under-
classmen and orations by upper-classmen, compositions,
letter writing, and debates. For a time also there was
select reading each evening by six members taken in
regular rotation, and it was ordered "that the pieces
read should be either from the Spectator, Lounger, or
Mirror, and that the length of the pieces be not less
than one, nor more than two pages." There was simi-
lar regulation as to the length of compositions ("at least
three hundred words") and other exercises; and on
80 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
August 8, 1808, it was ordered that "no compositions
be read before Society excepting those written in Latin
and English." Can it be that some of our versatile
members of that day wished to employ Greek or Hebrew
in their hall essays? And how long is it, one may
wonder, since any member has offered a Latin perform-
ance in Hall?
All written exercises for the Hall, letters, composi-
tions, and speeches, had to be submitted, before presen-
tation in Hall, to official Correctors appointed from
the upper classes; and we may be sure that they
received thorough criticism and correction. Composi-
tions required by the Faculty had also to be submitted
to Correctors before they were presented to the pro-
fessor. Doubtless, this system contributed immensely
to the development in the members of ease and correct-
ness of composition.
There is abundant evidence in the annual reports that
the members appreciated the opportunities for train-
ing in speaking that the Society afforded. For example
the report of 1829, after felicitating the Society on the
increased interest in oratory that had been shown during
the year, has this eloquent paragraph: "We cannot
dismiss this interesting subject without adverting to its
vast and increasing utility, and pressing upon the minds
of the rising members of our beloved institution the
beneficial results that must accrue from a superiority in
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 31
this department. Our country presents an extensive
theatre in which the irresistible power of the persuasive
art must always appear to advantage. Here where
emphatically the people rule, where reason guides the
helm, and Liberty and Equality is the watchword, sub-
lime eloquence will ever exert a powerful influence in her
[whose?] proceedings. The manly orator fereathing the
noble spirit of patriotism and pleading the best in-
terests of his country cannot fail to strike a chord that
will vibrate in unison with the feelings of his audience,
and will thus enable him by enlisting the feelings of
the people and giving a tone to public sentiment, to
command the energies and promote the interests of
every circle in which he moves."
The most important feature of the hall exercises,
from the earliest day, was felt to be the practice of
extemporaneous debate. This gave opportunity, as
nothing else could, for learning to think on one's feet
and to give ready and appropriate expression to one's
thought. Professor Henry D. Sheldon in his "Student
Life and Customs" defines the chief function of student
debating to be "to prepare students for public life" ; and
he adds: "This aim it accomplishes by giving them
mechanical dexterity of speech, by deepening their
interest in social and political problems, and by antici-
pating the rules and conditions of parliamentary
bodies." Moreover, it sharpens the wit and cultivates
3^ THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
the understanding; as a writer in the London Spectator
says, it affords "the collision of taste with taste, of
intellect with intellect, of conscience with conscience, of
spirit with spirit"; it teaches young men to discrim-
inate between true and specious arguments; and it
helps greatly in preparing them to take part easily
and confidently in public affairs when they pass out
into active life. This is especially true of those who
are looking forward to the law or the church. Many
a graduate, as letters in our records demonstrate,
who, in after life, became distinguished as a public
speaker traced back to his practice in the Hall and the
criticisms of his fellow members the beginnings of his
oratorical power. A paragraph in the annual report of
1850 does not overstate the estimation of the value of
the hall discipline which was then entertained by the
members. "We would not undervalue," it says, "the
courses of instruction in the College, but it can justly be
said that the success which has followed Clios through
every department of life is attributable in a great meas-
ure to the exercises of this Hall. The variety of
literary performances, the privilege of remark and criti-
cism, and the observance of judicious laws and regula-
tions, all tend to develop and inspire with energy those
faculties which are so necessary to success in any call-
ing." It is hardly too much to say, however, that
interest in hall activities has waxed and waned with
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 33
interest in the hall debates. More than any other
single feature, it has been the barometer which indicated
the vitality of the Society's atmosphere.
From the first the minutes have regularly recorded
the questions debated and the decisions rendered. A
whole chapter could be written on these questions and
decisions, as revealing the intellectual life of the students
at various periods and reflecting the political, social,
and religious problems which were uppermost in the
public mind. A large proportion of the subjects, to be
sure, has been made up of ancient problems of casuistry,
of disputed questions of history and literature, of the
comparative merits of famous warriors, statesmen, or
authors ; but along with these have always appeared —
and, with the progress of the years, in increasing num-
ber — political, social, religious, and economic questions
of contemporaneous interest and appeal.
The very earliest subject recorded — and one that was
often debated — was : ''Whether a public or private edu-
cation be preferable," and we are informed that, "the
decision of the Society was in favour of those who sup-
ported that a public education was preferable." One
cannot help the impression that not infrequently the
decision reflected not so much the judgment of the So-
ciety on the relative merits of the debaters as the
feelings or opinions of the members on the question
itself. Other early subjects debated were: "Whether
84 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
would it be more advantageous for a young man upon
his first entrance into public life to endeavour to pro-
mote his own interests or that of the public" (March
^7, 1793) ; "Whether is the British government justifi-
able in joining the league against France" (May 22,
1793) ; "Whether would be more politic in America
at present, to encourage extensive navigation or the cul-
tivation of unimproved land" (May 29, 1793) ; "Which
method of living, the simple or refined, is more advan-
tageous to a State, not only with a view to politicks,
but to the great good, happiness, and prosperity of the
people?" (June 12, 1793). "The Society determined in
favour of those who supported the side of refinement."
June 26, 1793, the question was : "Whether would it be
proper for the United States to observe the strict neu-
trality recommended by the President's proclamation
with respect to the Belligerent powers of Europe." It
is not difficult to imagine the Society debating precisely
this last question one hundred and twenty-one years
later; nor is it unlikely that the decision would have
been the same — in favor of those who defended the
President's recommendation.
A flood of reflections on college life and government
is suggested by the topic of July 24, 1793: "Whether
would the introduction of corporal punishment into
college be beneficial." We are not surprised that the
decision was in the negative; but the very fact that
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 35
such a question could be broached, much less be se-
riously debated by students, transports us to a period
of time and thought utterly alien to our comprehension.
We can only come to some understanding of it by care-
fully reading the early code of college laws; and by
recalling the fact that corporal punishment did exist
for some time at Harvard College.
December 24, 1807, the Society debated the question:
"Was the purchase of Louisiana politic ?" and answered
it in the affirmative. As early as November 27, 1793,
the subject of slavery began to be debated. On that
evening the question was phrased : "Would it be politic
in America to abolish slavery ?" and the decision was no.
January 14, 1795 the question was : "Would it be of
advantage or disadvantage to the United States to
liberate the African slaves?" The decision was that it
would be disadvantageous. Through the long years
until the Civil War the question in one form or another
was frequently debated, and usually the defenders of
slavery were decided to have had the best of the
argument.
Other questions frequently debated were : "Would it
be politic in the United States of America to encourage
theatrical amusements ?" — "Is it suitable for students to
frequent the company of ladies ?" — "Is imprisonment for
debt consistent with justice?" — "Are the minds of men
more susceptible of improvement than those of wo-
86 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
men?" — "Should atheism prevent a man's holding any
office under government?" — "Which has greatest influ-
ence on the actions of mankind, hope or fear, reward or
punishment?" — "Was it politic in Elizabeth to behead
Mary, Queen of Scots?"— "Should the United States
maintain a standing army?" — "Ought universal suf-
frage to be allowed?" — "Which conduces most to hap-
piness, the married or unmarried state?" — "Ought
women to receive a liberal education?" (The negative
won, March 5, 1794.) — "Ought females to be al-
lowed to participate in the privileges of the elec-
tive franchise?" (This was debated first in June,
1838, when the negative was decided victorious. The
question in one form or another has often been de-
bated since then.) — "If a pumpkin vine spring up in
one man's patch and run over into another man's patch
and there produce a pumpkin, to whom does the pump-
kin belong?" — ^Another whimsical subject, more than
once debated, was : "Is a pig's tail more for ornament
or use?" The author has a vivid recollection of its
discussion one evening when he was a junior in college.
The mock seriousness with which the young orators — in
after life to become famous preachers and lawyers —
attacked the subject, the flights of eloquence in which
they indulged and the flashes of wit or humor which they
displayed evoked shrieks of laughter and uproarious
shouts of applause.
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 37
Subjects debated in the fifties are noteworthy. They
afford typical evidence of the interest manifested by
students in every period of the Society's life in the great
questions of the day: "Are the interests of females
advanced by women's rights conventions?" — "Should
a system of internal improvements be carried out by the
General Government?" — "Is the exclusion of foreign
articles to encourage domestic manufacturers conducive
to the public wealth?" — "Which would be most bene-
ficial to the country, the election of General Scott or
the election of General Pierce?" — "Can the exercises
of the Lynch law be justified under any circumstances?"
(Decided in favor of the affirmative.) — "Do signs of the
times indicate the perpetuity of our National institu-
tions?" (Negative won.) — "Should American citizens
give Kossuth a public reception on his return to this
country?" — "Ought Cuba to be annexed to the United
States?" (Affirmative won.) — "Was the United States
Government right in banishing the Mormons to Salt
Lake because their religion allows polygamy?" (Nega-
tive won.) — "Would it be a politic act for the Pope to
crown Louis Napoleon?" (Affirmative won.) — "Was
the Administration of President Polk censurable for
projecting and carrying on the Mexican War?" (Nega-
tive won.) — "Has the Government a right to build a
Pacific railroad?" (Negative won.) — "Is the annexa-
tion of the Sandwich Islands desirable?" (Affirmative
38 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
won.) — "Will the passage of the Nebraska bill be detri-
mental to the country?" (Negative won.) — "Ought the
Protestant countries of Europe to defend Turkey in
her struggle against Russia, irrespective of right, for
the sake of propagating Protestant doctrines in her
territory.^" (Negative won.) — "Has a single State
the right to secede from the Union?" (Affirmative
won.) — "Should American sympathies be enlisted on
the side of the Allies in the present European war?"
(Negative won.) — "Was Bacon the author of Shakes-
peare's plays?" (Negative won.) — "That the develop-
ment theory is worthy of acceptance." (Negative won.)
It is interesting to note, however, that so far as
the subjects of debate give indication, the Society was
hardly conscious of the progress of the War of 1812
or of the Mexican War, and that it paid small attention
to the bitter controversies that attended the birth of the
Republican party and culminated in the Civil War.
The members were drawn from every part of the coun-
try and represented every phase of political thought.
It was probably felt expedient as a general rule to
avoid subjects that could not fail to rouse partisan
passions or to provoke sectional recrimination.
Until 1862 no manual of parliamentary law was
adopted by the Hall to govern the mode of its pro-
cedure. Then a thorough revision of the constitution
was effected, and Matthias's Manual was made authori-
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 39
tative. Before that time the proceedings had been con-
ducted, doubtless in harmony with generally accepted
parliamentary principles, under the sole authority and
provisions of the Society's own constitution and by-laws.
There was agitation for some years in favor of adopting
a recognized code of procedure, but the Society was
reluctant to give up the old order, especially as the
graduate members advised against it. Indeed, the grad-
uate members have always been more conservative, more
desirous of maintaining the ancient rules and practices,
than the active members. In many instances changes
or reforms in hall methods and offices have been made
by the young men, although the old members in annual
meeting had expressed their disapproval.
One cannot read the minutes over a period of years
without being impressed with the thought that the Hall
has been a microcosm of American institutional and
public life. It has had little reverence for the old
simply because it was old. It has wished every office
and practice, however long established, to justify itself
in the conditions of the present, or to give way in favor
of something that would better meet the existing de-
mands. So, through all its history, by frequent recast-
ing of the constitution and the body of the by-laws, and
by innumerable amendments to both, by abolishing old
offices and modes of exercise and introducing new, the
Society has sought, by changing with the changing
40 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
times, to keep itself alive and young, and to meet the
instant requirements of the students of each generation.
Whatever the past utility or glory of an institution may
have been, it can continue to be useful and to gain new
glory only by constantly adapting itself in measures
and methods to the varying demands and the different
needs which the new ideas and ideals of each epoch are
bound to create. The constitution and the purpose of
the Hall remain essentially the same that they were in
the beginning, but there have been infinite changes in
form and method, in exercises and offices, to ass are the
vitality of the constitution and to make the attainment
of the Hall's purpose easier and more certain.
For many years the members were required to wear
their gowns at hall meetings. This requirement was
abrogated in 1832. As a general rule, the records indi-
cate, the proceedings of the Society have been conducted
with proper decorum, and with due respect to the
constituted authorities. But there have been numberless
exceptions to the rule. For example, the annual report
of 1823 is pained to record: "Peace and tranquillity
have been blasted by the pernicious breath of faction,
and these walls, sacred to literature and brotherly affec-
tion, have echoed to the voice of violent contention."
Ah, very human, very human, the brothers of Clio have
always been, with all their strivings for "the things that
are more excellent."
Tapping Reeve, Class of 1763
[From Kilbourn's "Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Conn."]
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 41
The Society, indeed, especially in its business meet-
ings, has shown on occasion all the characteristics of
other parliamentary bodies. There have been stormy
sessions, acrimonious debates, defiance of rules and
officers, secessions from the Hall for grievances, real or
fancied, and seasons of wild disorder. Some of these
episodes were tremendously serious at the time, but
hardly one had any lasting effect. Moreover, there have
been times when cliques were formed to control the elec-
tion of officers or the choice of orators, when factions
were fomented, and society politics raii high. For ex-
ample, the annual report of 1831 asserts: "Under-
handed and improper measures were taken in order that
some most intimate connections might be severed and
the influence of friend might be wielded against friend.
The whole was planned and executed with a skill that
appeared to mark the last desperate struggle of disap-
pointed ambition. We allude to a system of electioneer-
ing machinery set in operation about the time of
balloting for the periodical speakers of the Society.
The plans laid unhappily succeeded, perhaps from want
of due watchfulness. Movements were silent and unsus-
pected and probably would have so continued but for
some accidental circumstances through which the whole
transpired."
Such pernicious activity was particularly common in
the last few years of the long period during which the
48 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Halls had uncontrolled authority in choosing the Junior
Orators, and these were selected by vote of the Halls.
Here was opportunity for every sort of personal elec-
tioneering and factional combination known to American
practical politics. Great conflicts rose, bitter feuds
were started, and turbulent scenes were enacted. It is
no wonder that Faculty and Trustees intervened. In
the fifties, too, disturbances were caused and difficulties
created by men that had become members of Greek
letter fraternities ; and in this same period there was a
tendency for the members from the South to band to-
gether in opposition to the members from the North on
questions of hall policy and in the election of officers.
All which simply illustrates and enforces the fact that
young men in their college associations are very much
the same as older men in active life — a little more in-
tense, perhaps, a little more insistent on enforcing the
strict letter of the law, but equally eager to carry their
point and equally ready for that purpose to form secret
combinations, to proceed by indirect courses, and to
employ questionable methods.
Not infrequently, too, the proceedings were enlivened
by the presentation of frivolous motions couched in sober
and dignified phrase and defended or opposed with the
utmost seriousness of argument and demeanor, such as
to enhance the amusement of the performance. At
other times serious proposals received humorous word-
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 43
ing, as when, on September 14, 1816, the Society ordered
the purchase of six plated candlesticks "for the Presi-
dent's desk and its appendages to supply the places of
the old ones whose age and infirmities call loudly for a
respite." Doubtless malicious joy permeated the Hall
on the evening of May 20, 1818, when it adopted this
resolution: "Resolved that Brother Collins should be
granted the privilege of speaking before Society every
Wednesday evening and of repeating the same speech as
often as convenience would dictate." We are not in-
formed with what grace Brother Collins received this
covert rebuke from the evidently long-suffering Hall;
but we feel morally certain that he failed to avail him-
self of the privilege so kindly granted him.
On December 10, 1852, a committee which had been
appointed to provide better ventilation for the Hall
reported that it had successfully performed its duty;
whereupon, in a spirit of generous appreciation, the
Society voted "that the two dollars yet in the hands of
the ventilation committee be given to the committee so
they can obtain stews and porter with it" ; and a moment
later (on motion of Brother Anderson) "that the com-
mittee take Anderson with them when they eat the
stews." But whether Brother Anderson was to be a par-
taker or merely a witness of the feast of "stews and por-
ter," the clerk neglects to tell us. Evidently, too, there
must have been special provocation that induced the Hall
44 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
on November 4, 1864, to vote, with enthusiastic alacrity,
"That an old shoe be procured from which a leather
medal shall be made to be presented to the senior who
shall get off the poorest joke or tell the poorest story."
On October 7, 1853, the seniors were excused after six
p. M. "to attend the exhibition of the planet Jupiter."
From the beginning of the Society until the revision
of the constitution in 1862, every man on entering
Hall was required to assume a fictitious name, by which
he was known in all society proceedings. Outside the
Hall, of course, and especially in the hearing of a Whig,
any use of the fictitious names had to be scrupulously
avoided. In the earlier days the names most commonly
adopted were Greek and Latin proper names and the
names of famous historic characters. In the very first
minutes of a regular meeting that we have, those for
July 6, 1792, these names appear : Alcibiades, Themis-
tocles, Minos, Galileo, Sully, Addison, Octavianus, Cym-
baline (sic), and Cleomenes. But gradually the range of
choice was widened and we have such names from fiction
as Red Rover, Peveril of the Peak, Tittlebat Tittle-
mouse, Maltravers, Tony Lumpkin, Corporal Trim,
Natty Bumpo, Roderick Dhu, Sam Slick, Paupukewis,
and Rip Van Winkle; or such appellations as, Hard
Times, Log Cabin, Anybody, Never Tire, Dismal Jeems,
Jolly Potato, Brandy Cocktail, Thumbscrew, Pompey
Smash, Old Kentuck, Oconochee Wild Cat, Bar Creek
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 45
Baby Waker, Nubbin Ridge Coon Hunter, Possum up a
Gum Tree, Stick in the Mud, Polly Put the Kettle on.
Sic Semper Tyrannis, Animis opibusque semper parati.
What do you do with your Ears, and Where did Peter
Piper pick a peck of Pickled Peppers ; or such grotesque
creations as, Mr. Caesar Augustus Mark Antony
Swipes, Esq., Noncomatibus in Swampo, John Ollen
Bohen Graben Steiner Schuben Bicher, Aldeboron-
defosbiforniosticos, Chrononhotontologos, Mistress
Chefuscumclickclackmanicum, Triethyladdimethylapro-
topropylamine, and Muleyabenhassankelikhan. The
shortest fictitious name was A; the longest, Histiker-
juncttillanytitUeoussinctigorrymathycally. How the
clerk must have thought unpleasant words when it was
necessary to record the performance of a brother that
bore one of these outlandish pseudonyms ! Sometimes
strange groupings of names happen to appear in the
minutes. January 4, 1826, for example, Beelzebub,
Plato, and Hyder Ali formed a debating team ; and that
same evening, in another debate, Cinclnnatus and Flib-
berty Gibbet, supporting the affirmative of the tremen-
dously important question, "Is ambition beneficial to
society?" won the decision against all the subtlety and
craft of Lucifer and Ulysses.
Through many early decades of the Society's life,
the discipline of the Society was constantly exercised
over the conduct and activities of the individual mem-
46 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
bers, not only in the Hall, but in their college life and
in their relations outside the campus. Testimony to this
effect is afforded by a letter, printed in Professor Giger's
History, from an eminent Southern lawyer who became
a member of the Hall in 1799. The letter says : "At
this distant day [1858] I sincerely pronounce it to have
been the best society I have ever had anything to do
with. It was, as a part of education, worth as much as
the College itself, not only in a literary point of view,
but in that of manners and morals. It did much to
remove boyish habits and make men of us, — and men of
sound and correct principles for society in after life.
It was a practical school, unequalled within my knowl-
edge. . . . Minor faults in the personal conduct of the
members were inquired into in the most quiet and deli-
cate way and produced a gentle reprimand. But it was
a serious matter if anything like dishonor was involved.
Deliberately and fairly was it investigated, but surely
and sternly punished."
Every member was expected to behave himself prop-
erly in Hall, to attend the meetings regularly, and to
perform all the required hall duties; and equally he
was expected to be a conscientious student, to obey the
college rules, and to conduct himself in all relations as
a gentleman. Discipline was enforced in serious cases
by official reproof, by requests for resignation, by sus-
I)ension, or by expulsion ; in ordinary cases, by an elabo-
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 47
rate system of fines. Thus, for example, on March 27,
1798, a member- was called up for bad scholarship and
was voted to be culpable, but this vote was considered to
be punishment enough. Two months later, however,
this man was suspended, during the pleasure of the So-
ciety, because of his disrespectful conduct when the
Society voted to suspend another member for bad schol-
arship unless he showed amendment within two weeks.
On August 14, 1793, "it appeared to be the general
sense of the Society that Bro. Alcaeus' scholarship
and character as a student in College were such as to
render him unworthy of a seat in this Society. It was
therefore proposed and agreed to that he should be
desired to withdraw himself from it."
On December 3, 1793, two members "were arraigned
before the Society for playing at cards and keeping
bad company. They were Seemed culpable and sus-
pended for four weeks." The law of the Society for
years was: "The attending members are forbidden to
play at cards or dice or any unlawful game ; and playing
for anything shall be esteemed gambling." On August
6, 1805, a member was "arraigned for ungentlemanly
conduct towards his creditors in town, and especially to
two or three members of College who had been so kind
as to lend him money sufficient to extricate himself so far
as to enable him to leave town. The affair was examined
with much coolness and moderation, and notwithstand-
48 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
ing the exertions of his friends, the punishment of sus-
pension was inflicted."
Expulsions followed gross breaches of discipline, such
especially, as persistent evil courses, plagiarism, or
divulging the secrets or committing acts injurious to the
interests of the Society. For example, Feibruary 27,
1822, a member was expelled "for wearing an indepen-
dent badge at Senior speaking." The account of this
action in the annual report for that year is too charac-
teristic to omit. "Your committee," it runs, "state with
pleasure that peace and tranquillity have reigned almost
universally in this institution. The withering blast of
Faction has scarcely been inhaled ["inhaling a withering
blast" is good!] by any individual of Society. But one
circumstance has occurred to mar our prospects or
disturb our social felicity. And here it becomes our
painful duty to mingle the bitter with the sweet; to
destroy in some measure that pleasure and satisfaction
which the former part of this report is calculated to
produce. A circumstance occurred during the past year
which must be peculiarly painful to every real Clioso-
phian. Some members of the senior class, irritated with
some of the internal proceedings of Society, resolved to
wear independent badges while delivering their public
speeches, and thereby disclaimed all connection with the
Society. The nature of this offense in itself, your com-
mittee presume, is well known to every member of this
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 49
Society; but this affair was peculiarly aggravated,
being all earnestly requested by their intimate friends
to desist from executing their rash designs ; at the same
time reminded of the unhappy consequences ; but regard-
less of the admonition of their friends and bidding defi-
ance at the censure of Society, they persisted in their
determination, notwithstanding one of them was at the
time an attending member of Society. The acting
members considered it a breach of that honor which
ought to distinguish every real Cliosophian; an offense
evidently showing a contempt to the Society whose in-
terest they are bound most solemnly to promote. The
attending members (knowing that at a previous annual
meeting it was resolved that such conduct should utterly
be discountenanced) after consulting several non-attend-
ing members and mutually deliberating on the whole
affair, deeming them culpable in the highest degree, in-
flicted upon them the punishment of expulsion."
The derelictions that were punishable by fines, espe-
cially in the early decades of the Society's existence, it
would be diflScult and tedious fully to set forth. Every
slightest infraction of rules or breach of gentlemanly
conduct within the Hall brought its penalty. Until
1796 the fines were assessed in shillings and pence, no
fine being less than sixpence. Fines were numerous for
absence or tardiness or overstaying permission of leave ;
for failures to perform exercises and other hall duties.
50 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
or to submit compositions to Correctors, or to have
speeches perfectly committed to memory ; for using im-
proper language, or making interruptions, or being
disrespectful; for studying recitations in Hall, pr for
using books from the hall library without having them
covered; for reading before Hall a composition pre-
viously read before class; for smoking in the Hall, or
attending the meeting without gown or in improper
garb. On June 10, 1795, for example, "Brother Cleo-
phas was fined 9d for appearing in Hall without stock-
ings, and Brother Luther 9d for not wearing a cravat."
Our guess is that it was a sultry night, and that the
young men did not begrudge the fines for the added
comfort they had enjoyed in the close and stuffy quar-
ters that the Society then occupied.
But members were fined also for all kinds of offenses
committed outside the Hall. The Cliosophians were
long required to sit in the west gallery of the church
and were fined if they appeared in the east gallery
where the Whigs congregated. This requirement was
abolished in August, 1797. Men were likewise fined for
sleeping or reading in church ; for missing recitations or
chapel; for having college orations imperfectly com-
mitted to memory; for taking textbooks to class when
not allowed by the professors.
In 1799 a special officer for each class, styled "bill-
keeper," a name used also in the old college laws as
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 51
synonymous with monitor (the word appears in no dic-
tionary), was appointed whose duty it was to report
to the Society the names of those of his class who ab-
sented themselves from morning prayers (and they
were very early in those days) oftener than once a
week, and "to take notice and report to the clerk all
those who refuse, are stumped, or read off at recitation,
that they may be fined accordingly." On July 6, 1820,
it was made his duty "to report as absent from recita-
tion, church, or prayers every one whom he knows to
be absent notwithstanding the party's name be an-
swered to." This thankless office was finally abolished
after much agitation in December 1838, when fines were
no longer assessed for breaches of college discipline or
other misdemeanors committed outside of Hall. On
more than one occasion the annual report has pride in
commenting on the high moral tone of the Society's mem-
bership. Thus in 1830, it can say: "Of the morality
of the College we can speak well ; but of the morality of
our Society we can speak in terms of almost unqualified
approbation. In this too we have the preeminence of
our rival. In confirmation of this opinion we beg leave
to introduce one fact. Of the forty-six students who
belong to a Temperance Society, founded in College dur-
ing the past year, thirty-six are members of this Hall.
However some of our friends may differ in their opin-
ions concerning the propriety of an association of that
52 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
kind, they must all agree that it is a good test of moral
character."
How vigilantly the Society looked after the conduct
of its members is shown further by action taken Jan-
uary 19, 1814, when it was, "Resolved that if any
member of this Society be detected in clapping, hissing,
or scraping, or in any other manner insulting the Fac-
ulty or any member or members thereof, he shall be
fined in a sum not less than two dollars, admonished,
suspended, or expelled, at the option of the Society."
Moreover, in the winter of 1817 several members were
found to have been guilty of participating "in the late
rebellion" and were suspended.
This action was in the same spirit as that which had
been displayed in March 1809, when a committee was
appointed "to consider and report such further meas-
ures as they approve in relation to the disturbance that
has recently taken place in College and to the conduct
they will pursue hereafter for the purpose of more effec-
tually promoting order in the institution." At the same
time the Society appointed a committee to seek a confer-
ence with the Whigs for the purpose of devising a plan
for the joint action of the two Halls in using their influ-
ence and authority in the interest of better order and
discipline in College. But the Whigs, while acknowl-
edging "the fallen and deplorable condition of the
College with regard to order and government," refused
DEVELOPMENT AND DISCIPLINE 53
to join in the proposed effort, declaring that they were
"not convinced of the justice or legality of the demand
made upon them by the Faculty of the College, and that
they do consider all regulation for the government of the
institution, contributing to its prosperity and honor,
of right to be ordained and put into execution solely by
the power and authority of the directors of the College,
and not, as is here insinuated, to be the creature of an
inferior body."
Verily, it is a long way from that attitude of mind of
the Whigs of 1809 to the vigorous and efficient system
of student government which in recent decades has been
so successfully developed in the University, the frail and
unsuspected germ of which we can faintly discern in the
Clio proposal.
CHAPTER III
The Homes of Clio
The first home of the Society was in Nassau Hall.
It was on the topmost floor directly over the main en-
trance, the western of the two small rooms filling the
front projection of the building. The eastern room
was the abode of the Whigs. There was a diminutive
antechamber. The Hall itself was so contracted that
when the number of members rose to thirty or forty it
must have been dreadfully crowded; and, with its low
ceiling, small windows, and closed door, the air must
have been stifling at almost every season of the year,
and especially so during the long summer session. No
wonder that now and then a daring member was willing
to incur a fine by appearing in Hall in scanty raiment.
The limited space was encroached upon by the cases to
hold the growing library and by the necessary desks or
tables for the oflicers. The room was heated by a fire-
place and lighted with candles in sconces and candle-
sticks. There is no record of the quality and character
of the furnishing, except that several settees were pur-
chased in 1800, "in order that the Hall might be capa-
ble of accommodating a greater number of members."
54
THE HOMES OF CLIO 65
So we can infer that before that time chairs were used.
The only ornaments mentioned were "a frontispiece"
containing the name of the Society and the dates of its
institution and revival "together with its properties
and effects," which hung over the fireplace, and por-
traits of Washington and Adams. These latter were
in all probability engravings or lithographs, for the
"several settees" and portraits all together were bought
for eighty-six dollars.
But all these treasures together with the library,
which by that time must have had several hundred vol-
umes (and would have had more, "but we could not
procure them either in Philadelphia or New York"),
were consumed in the fire of March 180S. At least, that
has been the accepted tradition, and Professor Giger
so declares without qualification. It is a curious fact
that the minutes are silent about this calamity. But
a brief entry of August 17, 1803, makes it seem probable
that the books, or many of them, were saved. This entry
notes the appointment of a committee "to cull useless
books from the library and dispose of them by lottery."
It does not seem at all likely that in less than eighteen
months the Society could have accumulated a new li-
brary of such 'size and quality as to suggest the need
of weeding out. However this may be, the fire crippled
the Society and left it without a meeting place.
It immediately obtained temporary quarters in a
56 TKE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
house which stood at the comer of Nassau Street and
what is now University Place, on part of the site at
present occupied by the University Dining Hall. Here
it remained until September of the following year, when
it returned to its old room in the rehabilitated Nassau
Hall. The room had been restored and refurnished, with
the aid and counsel of Dr. Maclean, the first great
scientist of Princeton and long the most popular member
of the Faculty. He had been made an honorary member
in 1795, immediately after his arrival in this country
from Scotland, and he was always ready to serve the
Society in any way that would promote its welfare and
usefulness. When he was appealed to in this instance
he not only prepared plans for completely refitting the
room, which the Society promptly adopted, but he
assisted the committee in the actual work of carrying
out the plans. The interest and zeal he uniformly dis-
played in behalf of Clio were to be exemplified in still
higher degree in the years to come by his greater son,
John Maclean, during the prolonged period of his serv-
ice as Professor and President of the College.
But this reestablishment in Nassau Hall was to be
of short duration. In 1804 the library building, now
known as Stanhope Hall and given up to university
offices, was completed. The upper story was set apart
for the use of the two literary societies, the Whigs ob-
taining the south half ; Clio, the north. Into these new
THE HOMES OF CLIO 57
and comparatively spacious quarters the Society moved
in May 1805 ; and here was its home for almost as long
a period as it had dwelt in Nassau Hall. The new room
must have seemed at first positively sumptuous. On
each side was a platform of slight elevation. On that
at the north end were placed the desks and chairs of
the President and the other officers, resplendent with
red damask fittings. Against the walls stood the book
cases, in the next few years to be filled to overflowing.
Around the room were ranged settees, and the remain-
ing space was occupied by chairs. Curtains of white
dimity and red damask obscured the windows. The
floor was heavily carpeted. Wood stoves gave heat
until 1883, when two coal stoves were purchased. Light
was supplied by a gorgeous chandelier, hanging by iron
chains from the centre of the curved ceiling, by "patent
lamps," — whatever they were, — and by candles. The
walls were covered with velvet paper. Off the Hall was
a closet for the storage of records and paraphernalia.
As the years went by, and the furnishings became
worn and dingy, there were repeated repairs and re-
newals, so as to render the Hall, as one report put it,
"as neat and convenient as was consistent with pro-
priety." What more, indeed, could be asked for.'' A
typical entry in the minutes is that of August 26,
1812, which records that new curtains for the Presi-
dent's desk were ordered, to be "of the same kind of
68 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
cloth with the present," and that there should be pro-
cured "tinplates to be fastened round the holes where the
stovepipe is inserted in the wall and that they be painted
green." A year later a new carpet to cost one hundred
and eight dollars was ordered purchased. It is evident
that tobacco chewing was a common habit among the
students of that day, for February 10, 1813, it was
ordered "that those who use tobacco in the Hall should
purchase themselves spitting-boxes" and should keep
them in proper condition ; and that order evidently not
having proved effective, in December of the same year
the Society itself purchased twenty-four spitting-boxes.
That must have brought one within easy range of every
member! On September 21, 1825, the Hall ordered
the purchase of "two silver-plated branched candle-
sticks for the President's desk" and directed that "a
new dark's (sic) desk be built in vacation."
But with the increasing number of members there was
growing consciousness of the discomfort of the Hall, for
all its "neat and convenient" furnishing; increasing
complaint of its closeness and oppressive atmosphere.
This is reflected in a letter received by the Secretary of
the Society in 1845 from the venerable Bishop of Ohio,
the Rt. Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine, who had graduated
in the class of 1816, regretting his inability to preside
at the annual meeting. He wrote: "I love to revisit
the College and Hall, where I spent several happy and
THE HOMES OF CLIO 59
profitable years, and where my thoughts often linger
in pleasing and painful retrospect, and it would give
me real pleasure to recall the scenes of our Society by
being again at one of its meetings, except that I should
miss the darkness and closeness, the sperm grease and
the faded hangings, and agreeable associations of the
old Hall — that upper chamber, where the winged hours
swiftly flew in pleasant literary intercourse and
companionship."
In the twenties the evidences of the discomfort of
the Hall become more numerous, though a ventilator
had been "inserted in the canopy of the Hall." Men of
delicate constitution were excused from regular attend-
ance at the meetings because of the hot and unwhole-
some air; and others preferred to pay fines for absence
"rather than bear the oppressive heat and confinement."
Then the roof became leaky, the ceiling was soaked, and
the plaster began to fall, while the Society's books and
the furniture, recently renewed, suffered damage. Ap-
peal after appeal was made to the Trustees for repairs,
to which only tardy attention was paid. Conditions
were becoming almost intolerable. The Hall was
crowded with mem<bers and overflowing with books.
"Our difficulty," the annual report of 1880 declared,
"is no longer to find books for the shelves but shelves
for the books." In 1833 there began to be talk of
seeking other quarters for the Society's library, which
60 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
now numbered some twenty-five hundred volumes —
"most of them well selected and well calculated for their
situation." It was even suggested that the libraries of
the two Halls be brought together in some college room
and be thrown open to the public, and the Faculty were
understood to favor this plan. But the Whigs would
not listen to this proposal. "The reason^^ says the
annual report of that year, "we, of course are left to
conjecture"; a clear insinuation of belief that the
Whigs were reluctant to invite comparison of their lit-
erary treasures with Clio's.
In the annual report of 1833 appears, also, the first
intimation that the time was fast approaching when
the need for another and ampler Hall must be met.
Thereafter this question began to loom large — the mem-
bership now being nearly one hundred — and was matter
for limitless discussion and endless proposals. Complaint
was made to the Faculty, who "indeed declared that they
intended building us a Hall, as soon as pecuniary means
should render it practicable"; but that was felt to be
a vain hope. It was even suggested that a Hall should
be built in cooperation with the Whigs. But here again
"the natural jealousies which exist between the two
Societies must ever prevent this plan from ever being
effected." Finally, on June 15, 1835, a committee was
appointed "to ascertain the best means of getting a new
Hall, and the most preferable plans"; and the annual
THE HOMES OF CLIO 61
report of that year made a most earnest plea to the
graduate members for assistance in attaining the de-
sired object. The active members declared their readi-
ness to do everything within their power, but the burden
was too great for them to bear alone.
The annual meeting was deeply impressed by the plea
and immediately, on motion of Parke Godwin ('34),
later a famous editor of New York, appointed a com-
mittee to confer with a committee of the Board of
Trustees in regard to a site. This committee promptly
reported that the committee of the Trustees would
recommend to the Board the appropriation of a site.
Thereupon the meeting appointed a standing com-
mittee on the proposed new Hall to deal with the Board
and to take whatever other action it thought proper
to advance the project. This committee consisted of
Professors John Maclean and Albert B. Dod and Dr.
John H. WoodhuU, all men of great efficiency and
loyalty to the Society. Indeed, too great praise cannot
be given to Dr. Maclean, later to be for many years the
honored President of the College, and to the lovable
Professor Dod for the untiring zeal, wise counsel, and
unsparing effort with which at this period, and always,
they served the interests of the Society. This committee
reported to the Hall in February, 1886, that there was
no doubt that the Trustees would grant a site, and
advised that effort be made at once to raise money for
62 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
the building. Meanwhile, the Whigs were feeling the
same need of larger and better quarters and were taking
similar action toward its satisfaction.
Already in January the Hall had appointed a com-
mittee to invite subscriptions from the graduate mem-
bers. Now it made every member a committee of one
to solicit funds. Money and subscriptions came slowly,
but there was sufficient encouragement by June 1 to
justify the appointment of a committee on plans. Pro-
fessors Dod and Maclean and two members of the class
of 1887, Alexander H. Bailey, of New York, and Joseph
Branch, of North Carolina (later to be prominent citi-
zens), formed this committee. A week later Professor
Dod was appointed custodian of all moneys received for
the building fund; and a week after that a building
committee was appointed, consisting of Professors Dod
and Maclean and the Rev. Daniel Wells ; and this com-
mittee was directed to "proceed immediately to the
erection of the new building when a plan shall be agreed
on and an architect procured." The building com-
mittee was subsequently empowered "to settle on the
plan."
It was not until the following spring that these pre-
liminaries were arranged and the subscriptions were suffi-
cient (about half the sum required) to permit the break-
ing of ground. In the meantime persistent efforts, by
letters and personal solicitation (Mr. Wells being espe-
THE HOMES OF CLIO 63
dally active and efficient in the latter), were continued
to enlist the pecuniary aid of the old graduates; but
the results were far from commensurate with the So-
ciety's enthusiastic hopes. Even the vigorous appeal
at the annual meeting of 1837 "to the generosity of our
elder brothers entreating their further cooperation," so
that "an abiding, inexpressible sense of dependence,"
which indebtedness would cause, might not "paralyze
our efforts," brought little substantial support. On
the other hand, the active members contributed gener-
ously, and liberal appropriation was made from the
hall treasury.
So, w'hen the building was completed, early in 1838,
there remained a depressing burden of debt, and there
were no funds in the treasury to provide furniture.
The building contract had amounted to $7,150; and
this had been a great bargain for the Society, because
of the low prices for materials and labor due to the
prevailing business depression. At the time of the
completion of the building in March 1838, the contrac-
tor had received $4,150 ; but of this amount Messrs. Dod
and Maclean had themselves advanced $1,650, so slow
had many subscribers to the building fund been in meet-
ing their obligations. Thus, the Society owed the con-
tractor $3,000, the building committee $1,650, and
had no money for furaishing the Hall. The only offset
was certain unpaid subscriptions, the hope of obtaining
64 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
more subscriptions now that the Hall was actually in
existence, and the regular income of the Hall frqm dues
and fines. But little could be expected from the latter,
even by cutting off appropriations for books, which was
done, as it was hardly more than sufficient for current
necessary expenses.
Again Messrs. Dod and Maclean came to the rescue.
They were willing to wait on the convenience of the Hall
for reimbursement. They became surety at the United
States Bank for a loan of one thousand dollars to be
used in furnishing the Hall, and they satisfied the con-
tractor by giving him three negotiable bonds of one
thousand dollars each, for the payment of which they
assumed personal responsibility. Efforts were contin-
uous during the next few years in soliciting money to
pay off the debt. By 1844 this had been reduced to
twenty-five hundred dollars, and, by strenuous solicita-
tion, subscriptions about equal to that sum had been
obtained. We hear nothing more about the debt until
early in 1856, when a committee was appointed to in-
quire into its status. The committee applied to Dr.
Maclean, then in the third year of his Presidency, for
information, the members of the Hall at that time
apparently being in complete ignorance of the matter.
Dr. Maclean promptly replied in the following char-
acteristic letter:
THE HOMES OF CLIO 65
College of New Jersey
Princeton, March 14, 1856.
To the Committee of the
Cliosophic Society:
When the present Hall was built the Building Com-
mittee had a settlement with Mr. Charles Steadman, the
builder; and they gave him three bonds of $1000 each
payable in one, two, and three years. The first was paid
in full. The second was transferred to the estate of the
late Robert Voorhees, deceased, and by his executors was
conveyed to the Trustees of the College in payment of
certain moneys due to the College. The third became the
property of the Princeton Bank. To render the bonds
negotiable, they were signed by the late Professor Dod
and myself, not as members of the Building Committee,
but as individuals; thus making ourselves personally
responsible for the payment of the bonds. It was only
in this way that we could effect a settlement. Towards
the payment of these bonds, subscriptions were obtained
from members of the Society both in College and abroad,
sufficient — or nearly so — ^had they all been paid, to pay
the bonds in full. But many who subscribed never paid
anything.
On the bond yet in the possession of the Princeton
Bank there is due the sum of $180.92 ; viz.
To the bank, principal and interest, .... $90.65
To John Maclean, interest paid by him, 90.27
$180.92
On the bond in the possession of the Trustees
of the College there is due the sum of 864.57
with interest from the 27th of June 1844 —
nearly twelve years.
Interest to the 27th of June 1856 will amount
to 616.49
Principal and interest $1,481.06
66 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Should the matter be brought before the Board of
Trustees at their next meeting, I think they would
willingly agree to give up the interest and receive the
principal by installments, say $100 a session. If the
Society should approve of this suggestion, I will bring
the subject before the Board and endeavor to have it
adjusted in this way. I will also contribute, should my
life be spared, $25.00 a session for four years toward
liquidating the debt. In making this suggestion and
these offers I am influenced by a desire to have the whole
matter settled in a way that shall not be burdensome to
the Society and at the same time to prevent any future
calls upon the members of the Society not connected
with the College.
At the time the last subscriptions were obtained, it
was understood that no further demands would be made
upon those who had subscribed. And it is but equitable
that those who enjoy the benefits of the arrangements
made by those who preceded them should share in the
burdens.
Respectfully,
John Maclean.
The Hall gratefully accepted Dr. Maclean's sugges-
tion, feeling, as the committee expressed it, that "the
honor of our beloved Society demands that she should
be freed from debt, especially since a portion of the debt
is held against her by the Trustees of the College, who
are composed of members of our rival Society as well
as of Clios." The Trustees granted relief from inter-
est, and payments began to be made. It was not until
the beginning of 1861, however, nearly twenty- three
THE HOMES OF CLIO 67
years after the completion of the Hall, that the last
dollar of its cost was paid.
While many sons of Clio contributed freely in money
and effort to make the building project feasible, yet in
a very true sense the Hall was a monument to the gener-
osity, the patience, and the indefatigable labors of those
two noble and well-beloved men, Albert B. Dod and John
Maclean. There is ample evidence in the records that
the Society at the time recognized its obligation to these
devoted men. But this grandiloquent passage from the
annual report of 1837 must suffice for citation : "In the
name of our Society we desire to express its acknowl-
edgments to the Building Committee, to whose unwearied
exertion is principally owing the happy consummation
of our oft-repeated wishes, and to whom we resign the
chief praise, well knowing that if unassisted by their
directions and uncountenanced by their support, our
timid attempts, if we had possessed courage to exert
them, would have been as abortive as our knowledge and
experience are limited." Which, one must say, is very
handsome, indeed ! And when Dr. Maclean retired from
the Presidency, the annual meeting, June ^3, 1868,
adopted this resolution: "Resolved that this Society
tenders to Rev. John Maclean D.D., President of our
College, on his retirement from the active duties of the
Presidency of our College, the hearty expression of our
kind wishes. We recognize his faithful devotion to the
68 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
interests of the College in discharge of the duties of his
office and his interest as a faithful friend and brother
in our Society. We pray that God's blessing may at-
tend him and the consciousness of duty well done make
his heart glad."
In this same annual report of 1837, the joy and exul-
tation with which the Society watched the progress of
the building and anticipated its occupancy are vividly
reflected. The project of building had at first ''seemed
almost visionary," its realization impossible. But de-
termination had triumphed in "the erection of an edifice
which would stand an endless monument of the enterprise
and perseverance of our Society ; a temple dedicated to
science and friendship, erected by the free-will offerings
of affection and the voluntary contributions of grati-
tude." Throughout the year feeling and interest had
been absorbed in the prosecution of the enterprise. Whig
Hall might be similar in size and appearance, but Clio
had been long in advance and owed its being to "the
willing and exclusive efforts of brothers," while Whig
had had "the extorted assistance of aliens and stran-
gers." "And now," to quote the exact language, which
swells to a flood of turgid eloquence, "when, after the
excitement of the enterprise has abated, we see our beau-
tiful building in sure evidence before us, we feel like one
surprised and confounded at the substantial representa-
tion of that which realizes some visionary creature of a
THE HOMES OF CLIO 69
wayward imagination, or which has had an ideal type in
the bold conceptions and rare combinations of a dream-
er's fancy, and we are almost compelled to suborn our
judgment to testify the veracity of our senses. We
know not which most to admire, the bold magnificence of
the enterprise, or the untiring energy which has effected
its full accomplishment. It invests our Society with new
beauties and increased interest, as it distinguishes the
period, when discarding every remnant of weakness, it
emerges before us in all the dignity of full maturity.
It presents our institution in an aspect which must de-
mand a modification of the feeling with which we have
been accustomed to regard its interests and cherish its
memory, a feeling distinct from blind and exclusive
and sometimes puerile fondness."
Evidently there was a strain upon vocabulary and
rhetoric alike adequately to express the enthusiasm and
exhilaration with which the young Cliosophians of that
day looked forward to entrance on their new domains.
This came about the very last of March 1838, when
twenty men were designated to help move the furniture
from the old Hall to the new, under the cover of dark-
ness, so as to hide its quality as much as possible from
the envious eyes of prying Whigs. The library, how-
ever, remained for several months longer in the old
Hall, pending the fitting up of the basement room for
its reception. The first meeting in the new Hall was
70 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
on the evening of April 4. It had been arranged that
special exercises should signalize the occasion and that
Professor Dod should make a dedicatory address. But
this address was postponed to the annual meeting, and
the minutes fail to give us details of that first evening's
exercises. Perhaps the several blank pages in the min-
ute book at this point indicate that some one neglected
his duty of recording the events of the celebration. We
may be sure, however, that "a pleasant time was had."
The amplitude, the convenience, the comfort, and the
dignity of the new Hall, as compared with the old, were
most impressive. It is not surprising that the annual
report of that year felicitated the Society on having bid
"adieu to the time-honored Hall where her sons were
accustomed to assemble" and on the fact that she now sat
"clothed in beauty and surrounded with every conven-
ience in a more splendid edifice." The meetings now
were "seasons of mutual enjoyment and their approach
was not dreaded as formerly, when health was endan-
gered and comfort sacrificed by attention to the duties of
the Hall."
Whig Hall was not ready for occupancy until six
months after Clio was installed in her new temple. The
new Halls were so placed (in accordance with a general
plan for the development of the college grounds, which
had been drawn up by the famous Professor Joseph
Henry) as directly to face, Clio, the walk from Nassau
THE HOMES OF CLIO 71
Street leading past the west end of Nassau Hall; and,
Whig, that passing the east end. They were architectur-
ally the most beautiful structures on the campus and
long retained that distinction. They were in the Ionic
style, had the same outward appearance, and were of
like size — sixty-two feet long, forty-one feet wide, and
two stories high. The columns of the hexastyle porticos
were copied from those of a small temple which stood
on the southern bank of the Ilissus, not far from
Athens, near the fountain of Callirhoe. The temple of
Dionysos (or Bacchus), at Teos in Asia Minor, was the
model in other respects. "All the forms," as Professor
Giger wrote, were "simple but elegant and pleasing."
It may be of interest to note that the portico of Clio
Hall is still standing, being used to mark the entrance
from Mercer Street to Professor Allan Marquand's
grounds.
Of the interior with its furnishings, we have few de-
tails. We know from the annual report of 1838 that it
was "indeed worthy of being shown to the world," if such
exhibition had not been unlawful. The assembly hall was
richly carpeted and the windows heavily draped. Al-
most the last action taken in the old meeting room shows
that the tobacco chewing habit still prevailed. It was
voted, "That in order to prevent the deleterious conse-
quences of tobacco juice upon the carpet, the building
committee be instructed to procure as ipany spitboxes.
72 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
as they may deem necessary, and that any person spit-
ting on the carpet shall be subjected to a fine of one
dollar." On the walls hung many portraits of famous
sons of Clio of other days. A great chandelier, the gift
of Matthew Newkirk of Philadelphia, an honorary mem-
ber of 18B6, and later a trustee of the College, sus-
pended in the centre of the room, was the principal source
of illumination. Large wood stoves furnished heat until
the autumn of 1852, when after some years of agitation
a furnace was installed. Already, a few months before,
gas for lighting had been piped into the Hall at a cost
of $230, the Society agreeing to pay 10 per cent yearly
on this cost until the company was reimbursed. The
lower story was fitted up for the library, and in connec-
tion therewith a reading room was established in 1840.
Many of the leading English and American magazines
and newspapers were subscribed for, and the reading
room was open in the day time, except during study
hours, on every day but Sunday. As the years passed
by there were frequent renewals of furniture and decora-
tion, and large changes were made in the arrangement of
the assembly hall and of the lower floor.
This Hall served the needs of the Society for many
generations of students. But in the late seventies, with
the great growth of the College, and with the increasing
demands of more prosperous conditions of life, its inade-
quacy of room and its lack of modern facilities evoked
THE HOMES OF CLIO 73
constant dissatisfaction and complaint. The time was
come, it was felt with growing impatience, when the
building which had been regarded as "an edifice which
would stand an endless monument" should give place
to a more imposing structure, when brick and wood
should yield to stone and marble. It required years of
patient effort, however, to realize the Society's aspira-
tion. Precisely the same situation confronted our
friends, the Whigs, and the same need for enlarged
quarters and ampler facilities was experienced by them.
There was thus again concert, or rather rivalry, of
effort on the part of the two Societies in the movement
which resulted in the erection of the present stately
buildings.
This movement was started, or at least received its
first impulse, in Clio, at the annual meeting of 1876,
when William Libbey ('77) in the annual report for that
year dwelt upon the urgent need of a new and larger
Hall. A committee was named which reported at the
next annual meeting against the immediate feasibility
of the undertaking in view of the general business de-
pression. The subject was kept alive in the next few
years by frequent discussion, but nothing was accom-
plished. Finally, the annual meeting of 1883 decided
that the time for action was come, and it authorized its
chairman, Edward S. Green, to appoint a committee to
raise funds. Of this committee Professor John T. Duf-
74 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
field was chairman, and no one can be thought of that
could have proved more zealous and resourceful than
he. The other members were the Rev. William Harris,
Treasurer of the College, Caleb S. Green and Charles E.
Green, of Trenton, John R. Emery, of Newark, the Rev.
S. B. Dod, of Hoboken, and DeWitt C. Blair, of Belvi-
dere. To this committee were subsequently added the
Rev. Samuel H. Studdiford, the Rev. George B. Stewart,
Messrs. Bayard Henry and Cyrus H. McCormick, and
Professors Andrew F. West, Henry van Dyke, William
Libbey, and William F. Magie. The committee was
continued from year to year, reporting at each annual
meeting, until 1890, when its final report was accepted
and it was discharged. Throughout these years it was
engaged in the arduous and thankless labor of soliciting
subscriptions by correspondence and personal appeals
from the graduate members.
It was decided at the outset, after consultation be-
tween special committees of the two Societies, that the
new Halls should be of similar construction, that they
should be of the same style and architecture as the old
Halls, and that their cost should be $25,000 each. It
was this sum that Dr. Duffield's committee undertook to
raise. The task proved to be even more difficult than
the similar undertaking of fifty years before had been;
though the sum required, in view of the vastly increased
number of members and the greater prosperity of the
THE HOMES OF CLIO 75
times, was proportionately smaller. At the annual
meeting in June, 1889, the committee could report as a
result of its years of persistent canvassing, "by every
known method," a total of subscriptions of only thirteen
thousand dollars^ from one hundred and forty-three
persons. That was only about one in ten of living
graduates. The committee was most despondent over
the outlook. It feared the entire project would fall
through, to the vast detriment not only of the Society,
but of the interests of the College itself. While the
Whigs were not much better off so far as subscriptions
were concerned, three Whig graduates had offered to
supply what further amount was needed and take the
bonds of the Society. The only hope Dr. Duffield could
see was that some good friend of the Society and the
College would come forward with a large subscription.
This report marked the hour of darkness preceding
the dawn. Before commencement week was over, Mr.
John I. Blair, to whom Princeton is indebted for so
much, subscribed five thousand dollars. Not long after,
Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick added one thousand dollars
more to his already large subscription. Under the
stimulus of these subscriptions, and through the per-
sonal efforts and influence of Dr. Duffield, Dr. Studdi-
ford, and Mr. McCormick, the fund was completed be-
fore the following Christmas.
Meanwhile, plans for the new Halls had been sub-
76 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
mitted by Mr. Page BroWn of New York, the execution
of which would require a much larger expenditure than
had been agreed upon by the two Societies. The Clio
committee was in favor of adhering to the $25,000
limit and wished for a modification of the plans. But
the Whigs adopted the Brown plans and let the contract
for a marble structure. The prospective total cost of
construction would be in excess of $40,000. Of course,
Clio was not to be outdone by Whig, even if the Trustees
had not insisted that the buildings should be alike. The
Brown plans were therefore adopted and preparations
were made to begin building.
At the annual meeting of 1890 (June 10), the sub-
scriptions, then amounting to $27,000, were increased
to $31,000, and committees on finance and building were
appointed. The Hon. Caleb S. Green was made chair-
man of the Finance Committee. The other members
were Mr. Charles E. Green, Treasurer, Professor John
T. Duffield, and Messrs. Cyrus H. McCormick and
Bayard Henry. This committee was authorized to issue
bonds for whatever sum was needed in excess of the sub-
scriptions. The BuUding Committee was composed of
Professor Cyrus F. Brackett, chairman. Professors An-
drew F. West, William F. Magie, and William Libbey,
and Messrs. E. C. Osborn and Leroy H. Anderson. The
two committees worked together in perfect harmony;
indeed virtually coalesced and acted as one body. Some
THE HOMES OF CLIO 77
of the men appointed dropped out of active participa-
tion in the work and there were added Messrs. DeWitt
C. Blair, Wm. B. Hornblower, and Henry G. Duffield.
The men who gave most time and thought to the enter-
prise, who were most active in carrying it to a pros-
perous conclusion, were Messrs. Charles E. Green,
McCormick, and Henry, and Professors Magie and
Libbey. The zeal they displayed, the amount of work
they did, the care and responsibility they assumed, can
only be appreciated by examining the records. To them
particularly the Society owes lasting recognition and
gratitude.
In the spring of 1890 the old Hall was demolished.
The library was stored in Dickinson Hall and the Col-
lege Library, and the meetings of the Society were held
during construction in the old chapel. The official
home of the Society, however, throughout this period,
was in the upper room of Stanhope Hall which had housed
the Society from 1805 to 1838. There the records and
some of the books were kept ; there the committees were
accustomed to meet; there all the Society's activities
except the regular meetings were carried forward.
The corner-stone of the present Hall was laid on the
afternoon of June 20, 1890, simultaneously with the
laying of the Whig comer-stone. A joint procession
of the alumni of the two Halls, in separate parallel
bodies, was formed in front of University Hall, and
78 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
marched down Nassau Street, Dr. McCosh heading the
Whig and President Patton the Clio, to the two en-
trances to the campus leading to the Halls. The under-
graduates of each Society lined the respective walks and
fell in behind the graduates. The heads of the two parts
of the procession, which divided at Nassau Street,
reached their goals at the same moment. The platform
at Clio was filled with distinguished alumni and honor-
ary members. Among them were President Patton,
Cyrus H. McCormick ('79), who had presided earlier in
the day at the annual meeting, Samuel H. Pennington,
M.D. ('^5), the Rev. Albert Williams ('29), the Hon.
William Paterson ('35), grandson of the William Pater-
son who had so large a part in founding the Society,
the Rev. John Rodgers ('41), Professor J. S. Schanck
('40), Professor John T. Duffield ('41), DeWitt C.
Blair ('56), Charles E. Green ('60), and the Rev. David
R. Frazer, D.D. ('61).
The doxology was sung by the combined assemblage
and prayer was offered by Dr. McCosh, and then the
ceremonies of each Hall proceeded separately. Presi-
dent Patton laid the corner-stone for Clio, using a silver
trowel, appropriately inscribed, which Dr. Duffield had
had made for the occasion, and which two years later he
presented to the Hall. In the comer-stone was placed a
copper box, hermetically sealed, containing the follow-
ing books and papers :
THE HOMES OF CLIO 79
President Maclean's History of the College;
Professor Giger's History of the Society ;
General Catalogue of the College of 1886;
Annual Catalogues 1886 to 1890;
General Catalogue of the Seminary ;
Annual Catalogue of the Seminary 1889-90;
A list of the names of the Building Committee;
Photographs of the College Buildings ;
Photographs of Presidents Maclean, McCosh, and
Patton ;
Honor List and commencement appointments of the
class of '90;
The Nassau Literary Magazine;
The Princetonian ;
Bric-a-Brac of 1889-'90 ;
Princeton Press, May 24, 1890, containing article
on the date of the Society's origin.
When the stone had been declared well and duly laid,
the Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D. ('78), delivered an ad-
dress, in which the spirit, the glory, and the achieve-
ments of the Society were portrayed in periods of
glowing eloquence. The orator reached his climax in
his peroration which evoked enthusiastic applause. His
words were:
Our Fraternity triumphantly challenges the wasting
power of the years. Its elemental principles compel
Time to pay tribute unto them. The culture that in-
heres in its name, the vigor displayed in its history, the
soul force developed under its discipline, are ever
strengthening and broadening and casting off all swath-
ing bands. Yonder relic [of the old Hall] is but a
80 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
stepping-stone of the Society's dead self, on which it
rises unto higher things. And as with heartfelt joy we
cross the threshold of the radiant future, as with exul-
tant hearts we stand beside this stone, that carries in
its bosom the pledge of a career that shall outshine the
glories of the past, in the fullness of our confident de-
sire, we are fain to cry aloud:
Hail, O Clio, honored and well-beloved! O Muse
benign, all Hail! To thee we bow with renewed devo-
tion. From thee we draw fresh inspiration. For thee
thy loyal children seek to rear a stately shrine. In the
days that are to come, may a continual throng of thy
loyal sons, ever mindful of thy kindly nurture, hither
return to deck thy walls with the shields of their vic-
torious achievement. May earth become brighter, and
humanity's cup sweeter, as thy children spread wider the
spirit of that sublime legend, in whose meaning thou dost
school them, — Prodesse quam Conspici-
But the laying of the corner-stone was only a begin-
ning. There were difficult days ahead for the committee.
It was not until July 1891 that the contract for con-
struction was let. It then became apparent that the cost
was going to be far in excess of the amount subscribed.
The committee authorized the issuance of bonds to the
amount of $^5,000. Mr. Blair took $5,000, Mr. Mc-
Cormick $4,000, and Mr. Henry $^,000; while some
friend of the Hall, whose name was not revealed,
guaranteed the sum of $4,000. At the annual meeting
of 189^ the Building Committee reported that many
of the alumni were unwilling to subscribe as long as
THE HOMES OF CLIO 81
bonds were outstanding; that thereupon Mr. Blair had
generously agreed to cancel his bonds, provided the
other bondholders would do the same and the guaran-
teed $4,000 was paid; and that Messrs. McCormick,
Henry, and the unnamed guarantor would meet this
condition, in case the members of Hall, alumni and
undergraduates, would now raise the additional sum of
$10,000. The $25,000 thus secured would, it was
thought, with the $33,000 already subscribed, com-
pletely finish the Hall and leave the Society free of
debt, so that it should "be able to go on doing the im-
portant work it has always done in Princeton College."
This generous offer and appeal was not made in vain.
The brief minute of the annual meeting tells the story :
"After some preparatory remarks the entire amount
necessary to complete the Hall was raised amid great
enthusiasm." It was thought at the time that it would
never be necessary again to appeal to the annual
meeting for money, but a year later, on the report of
progress by the committee, "the sum of $5,000 was
generously raised for the liquidation of unexpected de-
ficiencies." It was not till the annual meeting of 1895
that the committee could make its final report and ask to
be discharged. Then it could say that the work begun
ten years before had been brought to a successful end,
that "the building was finished and furnished as far as
possible." The report of the treasurer showed the total
82 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
cost of the building and furnishing had been just over
$66,000 and that there remained in his hands a balance
of $252.13. It was at once voted to use this balance
to obtain the memorial tablets of bronze that now adorn
the Hall. It is no wonder that the meeting, in discharg-
ing the committee, which had labored so long, so
patiently, and so efficiently, passed a resolution expres-
sive of the "deep and lasting gratitude of the Hall for
the great work they had accomplished."
While the completion of the Hall was delayed, its
construction was so far advanced as to permit its occu-
pancy in June 189^. The first meeting in the Hall was
on June 8, which by a fortunate, but apparently fortui-
tous, coincidence was the anniversary of the reconsti-
tuting of the Society in 1770 ; the day so long annually
celebrated with commemorative exercises. Nothing out
of the ordinary marked this first meeting. The real
dedication, though not so in name, came a week later
at the annual meeting when, as already noted, the mem-
bers present, rejoicing in the Society's new and splen-
did abode, contributed ten thousand dollars to the
building fund, and Messrs. Blair, McCormick, Henry,
and the unnamed friend declared their more than gen-
erous benefaction.
No extended description of the Halls is required.
They follow pretty closely the lines of the buildings they
replaced, only they are much larger in all their pro-
THE HOMES OF CLIO 83
portions. They have three stories instead of two and
are wider and deeper. They are the only structures of
marble on the campus ; the only structures that exem-
plify Greek architecture — and this they do in altogether
worthy fashion. They stand somewhat nearer each
other than the old Halls stood — noble and conspicuous
sentinels of the two southern angles of the historic
cannon quadrangle, on whose northern side rises ivy-
covered Old Nassau, the venerable and venerated mother
of us all. In its interior arrangements, facilities, and
furnishing, the present home of Clio, like its prototype,
is "indeed worthy of being shown to the world," and such
exhibition is no longer unlawful. If it is not — any
more than was its predecessor — "an edifice which will
stand an endless monument," its solidity of construc-
tion and the durability of its material give promise that
it will continue to afford shelter for the votaries of Clio
through innumerable student generations.
CHAPTER IV
Relations and Rivaleies
The American Whig and Cliosopbic Societies have
long been a distinctive feature of Princeton College and
University life. In earlier times similar societies flour-
ished at other colleges ; but in all the older institutions,
at least, they gradually lost vitality and disappeared
under the disintegrating influence of the Greek letter
fraternities. It was only by heroic and long-continued
efforts of Trustees and Faculty, to which Whig and
Clio gave effectual support, that the Greek incursion
of Princeton was resisted and finally repelled. Other-
wise, doubtless. Whig and Clio would long ago have
suffered the same fate that befel the great literary and
debating societies of other colleges. As it is they re-
main, the oldest literary societies in America.
The two Societies were created by the same impulse
and have always had much the same ideals and purposes.
Their members were first of all loyal sons of a common
fostering mother. They were simply two branches of
the same family, acting separately and in emulation for
the better attainment of literary culture and forensic
skill. It is as natural for students to divide into groups
84
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 85
or parties as for men in every other relation of life. It
so happened that for some time most of the students
from the South became Whigs; most from the North,
Cliosophians. Once the two Societies were firmly estab-
lished, they were recognized by the college authorities
as a serviceable instrumentality for supplementing the
work of the classroom. Every member of the Fac-
ulty became identified with one or the other, and was
ready on every occasion to play the part of "guide,
philosopher, and friend."
The Societies have always acted together in further-
ance or defense of their common interests. But as
between themselves they have maintained an attitude of
rivalry or hostility — for the most part of an amiable
or benevolent quality. In their direct dealings with
each other by means of correspondence or through com-
mittees, they have usually manifested the lofty bearing
and formality of "high contracting powers" with great
issues at stake. Each has been quick, on occasion, to
take offense at any seeming discourtesy of communica-
tion or demeanor on the part of the other in inter-hall
negotiations or complaints. And official letters of de-
fense, disavowal, or apology have been models of suave
or severe diplomatic expression.
During the first few decades of the existence of the So-
cieties, when the total number of students in College was
small, and practically every student was in one Society
86 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
or the other, the rivalry between them was most intense.
It became at the outset so open and obnoxious, as we
have seen, as to lead to the suppression of the parent so-
cieties. And in the next few years "paper wars" of
greater or less acrimony occurred from time to time,
when the faults or foibles of each Society or of in-
dividual members were set forth and commented on by
the wits or satirists of the other in wordy diatribes
or doggerel songs (usually anonymous) which were
publicly posted or circulated from hand to hand.
In verse-making of this delectable sort the Whigs
seem to have had the best of it. Evidence in
support of this inference, as well as proof that
a very vigorous paper war was waged between the two
Societies soon after their revival, is afforded by a
manuscript volume discovered among the papers of
William Bradford (Whig, 177S), which is now preserved
in the library of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.
The volume is entitled, "Satires against the Tories —
Written in the Last War between the Whigs & Clio-
sophians in which the Former Obtained a Compleat
Victory." It is made up of squibs, for the most part in
rhyme, from the pens of the four men who had been the
leaders in forming the Whig Society. The best of these
wretched performances are the work of Philip Freneau,
now remembered as the poet of the Revolution ; the most
execrable, that of James Madison. There is a plentiful
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 87
lack of real wit in these invectives, but an abundance of
coarse abuse and gross characterization. In 1775
Freneau published a satire, entitled "Mac Swiggen," in
which he embodied many of the verses he had perpetrated
in this paper war — about all that would bear the light,
as Professor Fred Lewis Pattee says in the introduction
to his admirable edition of Freneau's poems. Who the
Cliosophian was that Freneau was attacking, is not
known ; nor, of course, do we know what provocation he
had given, nor What was the nature of his reply. In-
dubitably, he did his best — or worst — in the contest of
vituperation. A few of Freneau's verses will suffice to
indicate the character of his splenetic effusion:
"What swarms of vermin from the sultry South
Like frogs surround thy pestilential mouth —
Clad in the garb of sacred sanctity,
What madness prompts thee to invent a lie!
Thou base defender of a wretched crew.
Thy tongue let loose on those you never knew,
The human spirit with the brutal join'd,
The imps of Orcus in thy breast combin'd.
The genius barren, and the wicked heart.
Prepared to take each trifling scoundrel's part,
The turned-up nose, the monkey's foolish face,
The scorn of reason, and your sire's disgrace —
Assist me, Gods, to drive this dog of rhime
Back to the torments of his native clime.
Come on, Mac Swiggen, come — your muse is willing,
Your prose is merry, but your verse is killing —
Come on, attack me with that whining prose, »
Your beard is red, and swine like is your nose,
88 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Like burning bush your bristly head of hair,
The ugliest image of a Greenland bear —
Come on, attack me with your choicest rhimes,
Sound void of sense betrays the unmeaning chimes,
Come, league your forces; all your wit combine.
Your wit not equal to the bold design —
The heaviest arms the Muse can give I wield
To stretch Mac Swiggen floundering on the field,
'Swiggen, who, aided by some spurious Muse,
But bellows nonsense, & but writes abuse.
Mac Swiggen, hear — Be wise in time to come,
A dunce by nature, bid thy Muse be dumb.
Lest you, devoted to the infernal skies.
Descend, like Lucifer^ no more to rise!"
Another and brighter example of Freneau's college
poetizing is given by Professor Giger in his History of
Clio. It is a rhyming skit of five stanzas, entitled "The
Distrest Orator," provoked by a Cliosophian, Robert
Archibald's "memory failing him in the midst of a public
discourse he had got by rote." In this poor Archibald
(1772) is made to declare:
"My words were few, I must confess.
And very silly my address, —
A melancholy tale!
In short I knew not what to say,
I squinted this and the other way.
Like Lucifer."
"What could be done? I gaped once more.
And set the audience in a roar;
They laughed me out of face.
I turned my eyes from north to south,
I clapped my fingers in my mouth —
And down I came!"
William Paterson, Class of 1763
[From the portrait bequeathed to Princeton University by his grandson,
William Paterson, Class of 1835]
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 89
And ten years later Ashbel Green, who was to become
President of the College in 1812, lampooned a Clio-
sophian in verses which he says he "afterwards had
great cause to regret; for a copy had been preserved
among the students, and when the subject of ridicule
(Gilbert T. Snowden) became a tutor, he was annoyed
by hearing this song sung by the rogues of the Col-
lege, whom he had offended. I was at the time a
professor in the institution."
We have entertaining testimony of another paper
war a few years later in a most interesting "Journal at
Nassau Hall," now in the Library of Congress, a photo-
graphic copy of which is possessed by the University
Library. It is a diary kept during the greater part
of the year 1786 by a Clio member of the class of 1787,
whose name is nowhere given. From internal evidence,
however, one may guess with reasonable confidence that
the diarist was George Crow, of Delaware. Whoever
he was, he writes :
March 12 [1786] Sunday. — After prayers [Ed-
ward] Johnston [1786, Clio] comes into our room, hav-
ing found, he says, a paper of characteristicks in the
window. Our fire not unraked* having gotten up too
* This is not a double negative, as it appears. "Unraked" is
the past participle of the verb "unrake" which like uncover, undo,
and untie, is used in a positive sense. The fire in the fireplace was
covered or raked over at night, and was unraked in the morning.
January 7, the diarist writes: "Don't wake till 2d bell done;
get up in a great hurry; go into Hall unbuttoned; not time to
90 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
late this morning to do it — ^but soon do it & light a
candle [Prayers were early in those days !] and find
them to be against the Whigs of the Senior class & a
very dirty piece. Snatch them from Johnston, intend-
ing to bum them to keep them from going any further,
but Firman [probably William Gordon Forman, 1786,
Whig], coming into the Room with Johnston, goes out
and spreads them about. Do not give them to Johnston
but keep them to bum as being highly injurious to our
Society to appear being so low & dirty. [Henry Em-
bree] Coleman [1786, Whig] came in shortly, but we
tell him they are burnt. T[homas] Grant [1786, Clio]
& Jn. Read [John Reed, 1787, Clio] in Room. Hunt
[there were two Hunts, Ralph and William Pitt, in the
class of 1786, both Whigs] & Stevens [probably a Whig
who did not graduate] also come and want to see them
very much; also M[aturin] Livingston [1786] [Daniel]
Thew [1787], [John N.] Abiel [Abeel, 1787] [all
Whigs], &c., &c., all having heard of them. Begin to
suspect — little that it was a manuvre of theirs & express
the greatest contempt for it & its author as scandilous
& scurrilous &c. . . . After Recit'n [in Religion] walk
upon the Campus with J. Read. [Edward] Graham
[1786, Whig], & [Abimael Youngs] NicoU [1786,
Whig] meet us. Graham starts the Character's. I
justify myself as ignorant of the author &c., & express
my contempt of them. He enquires his Character. I
give some of the words, but tell [him] I did not attend
them. . . . After Supper [Richard Hugg] King [1786,
Whig] attacks me about them, but intimates his appro-
bation of my burning them, which Coleman says he dis-
believes ; but I pay no attention to him.
light a candle, nor unrake fire; near being tardy." Lexicographers
appear not to have noted this usage.
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 91
[March] 13, Monday. . . . G. Woodruff [Clio
graduate of 1784] & [William Maxwell] Brown [1786,
Clio] come, Woodruff for the first time; whom I was
very glad to see. We chat very agreeably for a long
time — Societies, &c., particularly of the letter this
evening sent to the Whigs, how it will surprise and vex
them, &c. ; of the Characteristicks — late and former
ones, several of which he mentions, &c.
[March] 14, Tuesday. Attention of the members
of our Society altogether taken up with the last letter
to the Whigs ; think we can discover from their coun-
tenances that they are mortified. Walk over to I. Clark-
son [no record] to speak of Lexiphanes & talk of the
affair. He is for letting it drop as soon as possible &
having nothing more to do with them.
A day or two after this the Clios "found a Whig's
address — a Moderator's, on entering the chair." It
was "laughable indeed — spelt shockingly & poorly
written." It gave the Clios vast amusement and was
made the basis by them for endless gibing of the Whigs.
So, for some time there was a merry war of words when-
ever Whig and Clio came together.
The members of each Society kept much to themselves
in all their activities and associations, and intimate
friendships were long of rare occurrence between indi-
vidual Whigs and Clios. For many years^ they even sat
on opposites sides of the gallery in the church at the
Sunday services. And yet they could not, of course,
help being thrown much together. The writer of the
"Journal at Nassau Hall" frequently mentions visits
92 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
from Whigs at his room and speaks of calling himself
on Whigs and taking long walks with them. March
18, 1786, he writes: "Go to Brown's Room and hear
Bob Hughes [1787] play his violin, the Room full as
usual — ^Whigs and Clios promiscuously." And this at
the very time when the Societies were officially writing
each other stinging letters.
Still, the general attitude of aloofness persisted, and
well past the middle of the last century. This is made
certain by an interesting manuscript volume in the
University Library, entitled "College as it is," written
by Christian Henry Scharff and James Buchanan
Henry, both of the class of 1853, and both members of
the Cliosophic Society. The volume describes with
intimate detail and circumstance every phase of student
life at the period of its authorship. It declares :
"The two Societies exert much influence upon the
daily intercourse of the students. A marked boundary
line has been drawn, as it were, between Whigs and
Clios which, with a few changes, perhaps, will continue
to exist forever. When the students used to board at
the College refectory, the members of each Society oc-
cupied tables by themselves, which were called Whig
and Clio tables. In town the same thing takes place
still; Whigs board at one place and Clios at another.
Members of different Societies never room together, and
there are even two entries in the College buildings, which
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 93
are occupied solely by members of one Society. Since
many years the Clios have had possession of the rooms
of the second entry of North, while the Whigs have
reigned supreme in the rooms of the second entry of
East. At one time, to be sure, a Whig attempted to
hold property in the Clio domains, but in a short time
his room was made too hot for him, and he was obliged
to seek refuge in a speedy flight.
"In appointing committees, care is had to appoint
if possible, an equal number of members from each So-
ciety, and in the formation of whist parties Whigs club
with Whigs and Clios with Clios. In ordinary circum-
stances this distinction between the two Societies does
not extend farther. Whigs and Clios visit each other in
their rooms, walk together, and sit next to each other in
class. It even happens not unfrequently that intimate
friends belong to different Halls."
During the early period of the Societies' experience
the liveliest competition for new members obtained, and
there was nothing to prevent a young man that for any
reason had severed his connection with one Society from
joining the other. This accounts for the fact that some
names during this epoch appear in the general cata-
logues of both Societies. In March, 1798, eight or ten
former Whigs were taken into Clio at the same time.
Why they had left Whig Hall is not told us, but the in-
subordinate conduct of some of them soon in Clio justi-
94 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY .
fies the surmise that their leaving may not have been
altogether voluntary. Indeed, it presently became
necessary, for the sake of the peace and welfare of the
Society, to "separate" several of these young gentlemen
from membership. A letter from the Hall to the Hon.
Jonathan Dayton, who had interceded in behalf of the
readmission of these young men, throws vivid light on
the situation. These men, it says, "accustomed to live
under different laws from ours were discontented, and
wished and exerted themselves to introduce the most
pernicious innovations, and even to subvert the consti-
tution held sacred through the successive changes of
membership since the first institution of the Cliosophic
Society. Thus was that harmony and good fellowship
which had happily existed since the eldest of us had the
honour to be members unfortunately dissolved, and thus
were the pacific and worthy Cliosophians exposed to the
repeated insults and malignant attacks of those per-
sons." Moreover, their "conduct has been such since
they left our Society, that it would render their read-
mission highly improper and dishonourable. ... In
short their conduct has been such that they will never
be received even by the American Whig Society."
It was not long after this episode when both Halls
became convinced that the easy transfer of allegiance
from one Hall to the other was not to the advantage of
either. This conviction found expression in Clio on
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 95
February 6, 1799, when it was "resolved that it be the
opinion of the Society that it would be beneficial to
enter into an agreement with the American Whig So-
ciety to prohibit the unlimited emigration of members
from one Society to the other." Whereupon a com-
mittee of three was appointed to invite a conference with
a similar committee from Whig Hall; and a few days
later it was empowered "to enter into solemn agreement
with the Whigs entirely to prohibit emigration from one
Society to the other." That the Hall was by no means
unanimous in granting this authority, however, is shown
by the fact that the vote on the question was 13 to 11.
As a result of the deliberations of the two committees
plenipotentiary, the following treaty was adopted :
The American Whig and Cliosophic Societies of the
College of New Jersey, having taken into consideration
their mutual relations, have appointed Thomas Miller,
John Forsyth, and Henry Wisner on the part of one,
and Isaac Meason, Frederic Nash, and John vanDyke
on the part of the other, to enter into an agreement on
the subject of the following articles, viz.:
Article 1st. The American Whig and Cliosophic So-
cieties do pledge themselves to each other not to admit
any person dismissed from, or who shall have been con-
nected with, the one into the other, after the present
time.
Article 2nd. The above-mentioned Societies, wishing
to prevent discontent among their respective members,
and deeming it necessary thereto that every person be-
fore he enters either Institution, should be acquainted
with the character and members of both, do farther
96 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
agree that no student shall be proposed to either body,
within less than four weeks after he has become a reg-
ular member of College.
Article 3d. As the articles above are wholly inde-
pendent of each other, the contracting parties also agree
that the violation of one of them by either Society shall
not in any degree impair the obligation to observe the
other.
Thomas Millee Isaac Meason
John Forsyth Frederic Nash
Henry G. Wisner John vanDyke
Committee on the Committee on the
part of the Ameri- part of the Clio-
can Whig Society, sophic Society.
Done this seventh day gj^^j ^y order Geo.
of March, seventeen hun- Conner, Clerk of the A.
dred and ninety-nine. Whi^ Society.
Signed by order Benj. M.
Palmer, Clerk of the Clio-
sophic Society.
Already, some months before the adoption of the
treaty, the Societies had acted together in presenting
a memorial to the Faculty, pointing out "the impro-
priety of permitting a present set of neuters in College
to appear in public with badges of distinction." Here
was evidently the beginning of an effort to establish a
third society. There had been a similar effort in 1786,
according to the "Journal at Nassau Hall." But Dr.
Smith, at that time Vice-President of the College, had
advised the young men active in it to seek admission into
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 97
one or the other of the established societies. In the
next few years more than one attempt in this direction
was made. Thus, in 1805 we hear of the Adelphic, and in-
1807 of the Enterpian Society. The two Halls actively
opposed every movement of this kind, forbidding their
members to join the new societies or to have anything
to do with them, and refusing to admit to their own
membership any student that had been connected there-
with. These determinations were embodied in a further
treaty between the Halls, which also provided that its
terms "should be made to extend to every Society which
may have been, is, or may be contemplated or established
in the College of New Jersey." The immediate eifect of
this action was that many men withdrew from the Halls,
and joined the new societies, and for a time the Halls
suffered in membership and prestige. But this did not
last long. In the autumn of 1807 the Halls united in
rescinding their agreement not to admit to membership
men that had belonged to the new societies; and these
latter soon collapsed. However, Clio immediately de-
clared its position by requiring all its members to make
a solemn pledge "never to become members of another
institution which may be opposed to the interests of the
Cliosophic Society." This pledge remained a standing
requirement of the Society, being only modified or more
exactly defined by changing the last part to read "any
institution connected with the College which the Clio-
98 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
sophic Society may deem opposed to its interests." The
result has been that every effort to establish a real com-
petitor of the two ancient Societies has come to naught.
There was even some question for a time with loyal Clio-
sophians whether in view of their pledge it was proper
for them to become members of the Philadelphian
Society.
Meanwhile, the treaty of March 7, 1799, continued
in full force and vigor. There has never been, so far
as the writer can learn, any violation of the principle
embodied in the first article of the treaty. Once a
Whig, never a Clio ; once a Clio, never a Whig, has been
the unvarying rule. This has extended also to honor-
ary members. In case a man was elected to honorary
membership by both Societies it was expected that he
should accept the election of which he first received
notification. In some instances there has been a keen
race between letters or telegrams of notification. But it
was agreed between the Halls that "priority of election
should not be considered as giving either Society a
superior claim upon the individual elected but priority
of acceptance should."
There was a lively and prolonged controversy between
the Halls over Dr. McCosh, and each Hall was able
to present a plausible case for its "superior claim" to
his allegiance. The dispute was finally referred to an
arbitrator who decided in favor of Whig — much to the
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 99
vexation of Clio. At the banquet in connection with the
celebration of the centennial anniversary of Whig Hall,
June 29, 1869, Dr. McCosh, in responding to the toast,
"Alma Mater," referred to the controversy in the fol-
lowing happy strain : "There has been much said today
about the benefits of knowledge; and I have certainly,
in my own experience, found the disadvantage of igno-
rance. I really did not know, what I ought to have
known, that there might be any inconsistency in joining
myself to both of the two Societies, the Whig and the
Clio, and with the tantalizing view of each that was
placed before me, I desired to become a member of
both ; and I was therefore greatly mortified when I found
that I was to make my choice between them. ... I
felt very badly because I could not join both Socie-
ties. ... It was decided at last that I should become
a Whig . . . and I am ready to do everything I can for
it [Whig Hall] except one. ... I have such a grate-
ful remembrance of the many kindnesses shown me by
the members of the Clio Society, that if ever you fight the
Clios you must not expect me to help you."
It is evident in the midcentury, at times, that the
intense political feeling of the day penetrated the Hall
and had its influence in the election of new members, for
April 25, 1856, it was voted that objections based on
politics or sectional feeling to candidates for admission
as honorary or active members should not be allowed
unless sustained by a two-thirds vote.
100 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
But almost from the start there were complaints of
the violation of the second article of the treaty. The
first complaint was made by Clio in December, 1799.
Its basis was more technical than real. The Whig ac-
knowledgment recites: ''Whereas Messrs. Gambol and
Watkins have been proposed to our Society about twelve
hours sooner than the time specified by the second article
of the late treaty, we promptly acknowledge our infrac-
tion of the said article, and are determined to adhere
strictly to its performance in future." Think of the
enormity of those twelve hours ! Clio, we are glad
to say, rose to the occasion and very handsomely,
though with exceeding brevity, responded: "Your
prompt acknowledgment of the infraction of the treaty
we accept." And so self-respect was preserved, and the
treaty was saved.
But the excessive zeal of eager campaigners for new
members was hard to curb, and in the years that fol-
lowed there passed from one Hall to the other innu-
merable accusations of more or less serious infractions
of this second article of the treaty. These accusations
led to much correspondence, through which the dignity
of the Societies was vindicated and the validity of the
mutual compact was asserted and maintained. This
went on until the autumn of 1824, when for a time amica-
ble relations between the Halls were suspended. The
annual report of 1825 describes the incident in language
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 101
which the writer would not venture to paraphrase:
"Soon after the commencement of the last winter ses-
sion, a member of college, previous to his admission into
our Society, entered — inadvertently, as he declared, —
into the Hall of our rival Society, which together with
his initiation into our Hall, severed every bond of union
heretofore existing between the two Societies and threat-
ened the peace of the institution with which these So-
cieties stand connected. A few weeks after the
initiation of this person, the Society was called upon to
perform the painful duty of suspending him from their
Hall for ungentlemanly conduct. The committee re-
joice that they are enabled to state that the Societies
are now on usual terms of intimacy and feeling. That
dark and lowering cloud which threatened to disgorge its
contents upon our devoted heads has passed by and been
followed by a peaceful calm." Ah, the young men of
that day knew how to express themselves !
But the "peaceful calm" was not of long duration.
In the next two or three years there were repeated
charges that the treaty was being violated, and finally
in midwinter of 1828-29 the treaty was denounced and
annulled. The annual report of 1829 tells the story of
this episode in prolix but interesting detail. After ex-
patiating on the importance of the second article of the
treaty and the necessity of absolute adherence to its
precise terms, the report continues:
102 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
"Now, we are bound in justice to our Society and in
the spirit of strict impartiality to state that the mem-
bers of the opposite Society have not regarded this
article with the veneration it deserves. . . . Notwith-
standing the necessity of preserving strictly inviolate
so important an article of the treaty, they, at the com-
mencement of last winter's session, in direct opposition
to the above mentioned article, admitted into their So-
ciety a student who had been a member of College only
three weeks. This act was the more flagrant and the
more unjustifiable as it was committed openly and with
deliberate premeditation. So much so that they even
avowed previously to our members their intention of
so doing; and moreover privately enquired as to the
degree of criminality we should attach to the commission
of it. The gentleman referred to was nevertheless ad-
mitted, and the only course left us was to remonstrate as
usual and request an explanation; which we did in a
firm yet respectful manner through a committee ap-
pointed for that purpose. So far was this, however,
from obtaining the necessary apology, that in order to
avoid making any concessions, they took this opportu-
nity to cavil and object to our letter as though it was
not sufficiently humble to attract their notice. It was
accordingly enclosed and returned to us, stating simply
that they did not consider themselves bound to reply to
such a communication.
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 108
^'The Cliosophic Society then directed their com-
mittee to inform the American Whig Society that in
consequence of the violation of the second article of the
treaty and their refusal to make any apology or ex-
planation of the same, the Cliosophic Society could no
longer acknowledge any obligation to regard the article
thus violated, and that it was thenceforth null and
void. We then received a letter from them, written
in no very conciliatory tone, wishing to be informed of
Hhe train of reasoning by which we arrived at so logical
a conclusion,' — viz. our right to annul the article they
had so openly violated and for which they would make
no reparation, — and ending with a threat that if we
did annul that article they would no longer be bound
by any of the treaty, and that thenceforth they would
act as though no treaty existed. We of course proceeded
with regard to this article as we had informed them and
afterwards admitted our members accordingly. They
then determined to act under no restraint so far as re-
garded the compact, which they were sacredly pledged to
observe, and while our Society was in session at one of
its regular meetings, rushed up into the Hall in the most
disorderly and tumultuous manner and after much con-
fusion and disturbance retired as they came. [The two
Halls, it is to be remembered, occupied at that time
adjoining rooms on the top floor of what is now Stanhope
Hall. The meetings were on diff^i^e^i^ ev^^ings, and an
104 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
article of the inter-hall treaty forbade the members of
one Society to enter their Hall when the other Society
was in session.]
"In reply to their last letter our committee by direc-
tion of Society referred them to our last communication
for the reason of our conduct and also informed them
that hereafter no communication from the American
Whig Society which did not propose a suitable repara-
tion for the recent violation of the treaty would receive
any notice from the Cliosophic Society. In conformity
with the rest of their conduct this letter was found the
next morning nailed to one of the doors of the college
building.
"Thus ended all communication between the two ; and
as the American Whig Society had rejected the treaty,
we shortly after annulled it by the unanimous consent
of ours. It will be seen from the general statement
where the aggression commenced and how it was con-
tinued. The members of the Cliosophic Society have
throughout acted with calmness and deliberation, nor
was any step taken by the Society till its consequences
were duly weighed and its propriety fully established.
The advice and opinions of our graduate members had
their weight in all these proceedings, and when they
could be obtained were gladly received."
Any one with the slighest apprehension of the
undergraduate temper can ^-ppreciate the tremendous
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 105
seriousness of the situation. So, it was a very pretty
quarrel as it stood, and for a time there was much
bitterness of spirit and many an act of mutual annoy-
ance. Wiser counsels soon prevailed, however, and
though for many years there was no revival of the treaty,
ill will gave way to better feelings, and the two So-
cieties conducted themselves with a reasonable regard
for each other's rights and susceptibilities. The annual
report of 1880, speaking of the rupture of relations,
declares : "Not the least inconvenience on our part has
been experienced. Unclogged by articles of agreement,
which the principles of honor here inculcated taught us
to observe and which our rival without cause trampled
under foot, our course has been steered independently
of any communication with them."
Meanwhile, with no restriction on the times and sea-
sons for receiving new members existing, there was con-
stantly increasing vigor and variety in the methods
employed by both Societies to win adherents. Com-
mittees were appointed to lay siege to the new students
as soon as they appeared on the campus ; and these were
courted and feted and had life made a pleasant burden
to them until they were pledged to one Hall or the other.
But once in the Hall of their choice they became aware
that "those civilities and attentions," as the annual
report of 1831 regretfully puts it, "arose from other
motives than genuine politeness, esteem, or friendship."
106 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
They learned that, after all, they were only freshmen,
and that there were sophomores who had ideas and de-
signs for their discipline and improvement which delayed
application had only made more definite and more
searching.
This condition of unregulated competition endured for
nearly fifteen years — with less friction and animosity
between the Halls, however, than might have been ex-
pected. Then, in 1844, a new treaty was adopted, much
the same as the old, only that the time of residence in
College before which a student could be admitted to mem-
bership was made two weeks instead of four. Hardly a
year and a half passed before a flagrant violation of the
treaty by Whig Hall occurred, and again relations were
severed and unrestricted rivalry was resumed.
The apologetic account of this episode given by
Professor Cameron (who was a student at the time), in
his "History of the American Whig Society," is worth
quoting: "Through inadvertence the Whigs initiated
two members before they had been connected with the
College two weeks, as was required by the treaty. The
Clios declared the treaty null and void, and would not
receive our explanation. The return of a letter, in what
was considered an improper manner, in the course of an
excited correspondence, induced the Whigs to post the
Clios upon the walls of the College. The paper was re-
moved by the authorities of the College, and the Clios
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 107
ceased to have any social relations with the Whigs. The
dearest friends were separated, and I have never wit-
nessed so much excitement or such a display of
bitter feeling since I have been connected with the insti-
tution. Daily meetings were held by the Societies, at
which members of the Faculty and old graduates were
present attempting to restore kindly feelings. The
storm fortunately passed without any personal out-
breaks ; but the only solution of the difficulty consisted in
the mutual withdrawal of the correspondence and the
abolition of the treaty. It was not until the commence-
ment of my class in 1847 that a general reconciliation
occurred and harmony was restored."
In "College as it is," from which quotation has al-
ready been made, we have a vivid description of the
assiduities of the two Halls at the beginning of the
college year during this period to obtain new recruits.
Somewhat condensed this reads:
"The reception with which a newy meets here at
Princeton differs widely from that which he experiences
at some of the European colleges. There the first two
weeks of his collegiate life are always insupportable. At
Princeton, on the contrary, he is treated politely by all ;
every one seems happy to make his acquaintance, and in
a few hours after his arrival at College, he feels as if
he were among old friends. The freshman cannot
escape torment altogether; the time of his suffering is
108 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
only put off. There are two Societies at Princeton, the
American Whig and the Cliosophic. All their proceed-
ings are covered with an impenetrable veil of secrecy.
As they are rivals each one endeavors to secure a supe-
riority in the number of members. Hence it is that
every one is kind to the newy, visits him in his room,
treats him to creams, and thus tries to get him to join
that Society to which he himself belongs. Some of the
senior members of each Society are always on the alert
to treat any freshman who comes within their reach,
and if this individual is cute enough to leave them in
doubt for some time as to which of the Halls he in-
tends to enter, he can have a very fine time. The sight
of one member of each Society ^hoaxing' a freshman
for their respective Halls, reminds one of the scenes
between steamboat runners of opposition boats.
"In the conversations between members of the Halls
and newies, much is said about a certain goat which is
kept by each Society for the sole purpose of letting the
newies ride in triumph through the Halls. Who knows
but what these goats may be descendants from that
celebrated individual into which Mnemosyne, the mother
of the muses, was transformed in ancient times by
Jupiter, the great father and king of the gods. Every
one sets forth his own goat as a strong and gentle crea-
ture who will carry a newy through all the mysteries of
the Hall with the greatest ease. The goat of the rival
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 109
Society butts the freshman and when mounted gallops
away in furious manner, leaving the rider at his destina-
tion more dead than alive. The freshman therefore as-
sures himself first of all which of the two animals is in
fact the most gentle. On the second Friday night after
the commencement of the session you may see a number
of young men walking arm in arm to each of the two
Halls. These are the newies accompanied by their guides.
They arrive at the door; the freshmen prepare them-
selves for the ride and well they may do so, for as the
door opens you may see part of the form of a white
goat. Look how the newies tremble; they are now
going to — ^but the door closes and the outsiders are thus
left in perfect ignorance as to the particulars of the
ride."
In the years that followed, at various times, other
treaties regulating campaigning, etc., to much the same
effect as the early compacts, were entered into between
the Halls. These were enforced for longer or shorter
periods and then through infractions went the way of
their predecessors. Finally, in May 1891, an elaborate
treaty, defining in detail the limits and methods of cam-
paigning and providing severe penalties for violation of
its restrictions, was negotiated and ratified by the two
Halls. This was somewhat revised and amplified ten
years later, when, in addition to the signatures of the
committees of the two Halls, it was attested on behalf
110 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
of the graduate members by Professor Woodrow Wilson
for the Whigs and by Professor Theodore W. Hunt for
the Clios.
The Halls agreed to refrain from all campaigning
except such as the treaty provided for. This excluded
^'the deliberate attempt upon the part of any member at
any time whatsoever to influence directly or indirectly
any student or prospective student in the choice of
Society." It provided for the appointment by each
Hall every year of a committee of ten to present to
new students ''the claims of hall membership" and to
urge its advisability, but the two committees were to act
in harmony, and no member of either was to urge a
student to enter Hall except in the presence of a member
of the committee of the other Hall. It provided further
for the annual publication, at the joint expense of the
Halls, of a small pamphlet concisely stating the aims
of the Societies, explaining the method of applying for
membership, and giving a brief summary of the history
of each Hall. The pamphlet would say :
"Identification with one Hall or the other is advised
by the Faculty, who are themselves members. The pur-
pose of the Societies is the promotion of intellectual cul-
ture by literary exercise. One obtains in them a train-
ing not found in the curriculum. . . . Therefore, apart
from personal prejudice toward institutions to which
we belong, we earnestly advise all new students seeking
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 111
for intellectual culture and improvement to join one or
other of the Societies for the training afforded, for the
library and reading room advantages, and for the friend-
ship and hospitality found within their walls."
This system continued in force, giving reasonable
satisfaction, until a few years ago when the publication
of the pamphlet was abandoned and the present method
of presenting the claims of the Halls to the entering
class came into use. Individual solicitation remains
under ban. Campaign committees are still appointed
which act in harmony, and shortly before the October
initiation a meeting of the freshman class is held at
which the virtues and advantages of the two Halls are set
forth by two members of the Faculty, one a Whig and
the other a Clio.
The competitive spirit between the Halls has not en-
tirely disappeared, but little is left of the ancient inten-
sity of friction and rivalry. Perhaps a little more of
the old eagerness of emulation would be beneficial to
both Halls. The late James W. Alexander ('60), in
his interesting "Princeton Old and New," published in
1898, while admitting that the practice of "hoaxing"
"may have been carried to an extreme, for the com-
mittees [in the times when no treaty existed] had the
habit of approaching students before they came to Prince-
ton, waylaying them at the station and pursuing them
with every sort of suasion short of physical force," still
112 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
is of opinion that "the competition had its meritorious
side." For, he contends, "it left no indifferent men in
College." He declares further: "It cannot be said,
without qualification, that the effect [of the present
system] is good. For the first time in the history of
these venerable institutions there exists a considerable
body of students who belong to neither Society, and
there are many who would hail enthusiastically the abro-
gation of the treaty, and a return to the traditional
habit, which would doubtless be favorably toned by the
experiences of recent years."
The first Greek letter fraternity to appear at Prince-
ton was Beta Theta Pi which was established in 184S,
nearly twenty years after the Greeks had begun their
conquest of other colleges. It endured only three years.
Delta Kappa Episilon came in 1845. In the early fifties
seven other fraternities found footing. Even their meet-
ing places were kept secret, declares "College as it is,"
but acting together they were able, according to the
same authority, to control class elections. The college
authorities were hostile to them from the start. Senti-
ment in Clio was for a time divided. This is made mani-
fest by the fact that June 22, 1854, the Society adopted
the following minute for presentation to the Trustees :
Whereas we have been informed by the President of
the College of New Jersey that it is a matter of general
belief that secret associations have been and are inju-
rious to the interests of the Cliosophic Society, we the
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 113
members of the Cliosophic Society do in general assem-
bly submit the following resolutions to the Trustees of
the College, requesting that they will give them a candid
and careful consideration:
Be it resolved (1) that the secret associations estab-
lished in College have not tended to wean the members
from the interests of the Cliosophic Society; but such
members have performed with zeal and alacrity the
various duties devolving upon them and have striven
hand and heart with all others to promote the prosper-
ity and guard the best interests of the Society.
(2) That the friendly intercourse now existing be-
tween the two literary Societies is in a great measure
dependent upon the establishment of secret associations
in College ; that it is a matter of fact that prior to such
associations a feeling of animosity existed between the
two Halls most injurious to the interests of the College
and detrimental to the happiness of the student ; that the
cessation of such hostility is due to the secret associa-
tions which while they excite a generous rivalry between
the two literary Societies bind the members of either in
firmest bonds of amity and produce a feeling of good-will
that goes far to promote the interests of the College.
(3) That the existence of secret associations is not
necessarily productive of cliques in .the Cliosophic So-
ciety, and even were such cliques to be formed that they
oppose the formation of cliques far more bitter in their
nature and more dangerous in their effects. That the
secret associations binding by the closest ties of friend-
ship unite North and South, East and West, in firmest
bonds of union ; that they thus destroy those state and
sectional [prejudices] which would embitter the course
of the student and impede the progress of the Hall.
That the secret associations thus enable the stranger
to meet with a hearty welcome and to make firm friends
114 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
beyond the narrow limits of his own State or section.
That they thus guard against that bitter sectional
feeling which has crept into some of the institutions of
our country, enabling the student to regard this literary
Society and thus promote his happiness and the welfare
of the Hall and the College.
(4) That those members of the Cliosophic Society
who are deserving of her highest honors have not found
secret associations detrimental to their interests.
The Trustees, we may well believe, were not greatly
impressed with the resolutions, for their opposition did
not relax. And even if "the existence of secret associa-
tions was not necessarily productive of cliques" in the
Hall, it soon became apparent that the Greeks did com-
bine to control hall politics and so became a subtle
disturbing element. Elections under their influence
were fiercely contested, "becoming," as a contemporary
report declares, "to many of as much importance as any
Presidential election is to office-seeking politicians."
Evil conditions finally reached a climax in scenes of wild
disorder at the election of Junior Orators in March
1857. The annual report for that year tells the story :
"The unauthorized secret societies, after intense exer-
tion and polling their full vote, were unable to carry
the election of one of their candidates. The defeated
party (for parties we must acknowledge were formed)
was greatly disappointed in the result of the election, so
that many of its members without the least compunc-
tion of conscience wilfully made known to members of the
RELATIONS AND RIVALRIES 115
American Whig Society many, yea, nearly all the inter-
nal arrangements of the Hall. They revealed the names
of our officers and candidates for Junior Orator, with
the number of votes which each received, and even the
fictitious names of every active member of Society.
Not contented with this, they drew up a series of resolu-
tions which they read at a called meeting of Society
pledging themselves never to enter the Hall again, and
desiring that they might no longer be considered mem-
bers of Society. Having read the resolutions, they gave
three cheers, stamped loudly, and in a body [twenty-
nine of them] left the Hall."
It is no wonder that the college authorities which,
"knowing the importance and advantages of the Ameri-
can Whig and Cliosophic Societies and observing the
workings of the secret cliques, had already adopted reso-
lutions requiring each student to pledge himself not to
join any other secret society while a member of Col-
lege," now adopted more stringent measures to suppress
the Greeks. As a result most of the fraternities were
disbanded in 1857 or soon after. Two, however, per-
sisted, in spite of all efforts to dislodge them, and in
defiance of the pledge given by the students at matricu-
lation, for twenty years longer; and in the sixties two
others were established and maintained a precarious
existence for a few years. All these were under ban and
their members had to be most careful to hide their
116 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
membership and to keep their surreptitious meeting
places secret. The two Halls were as hostile to them
as were the authorities. In 1872 they made a treaty
agreeing mutually to exact a most solemn pledge of
members not to join any other secret society in College
and promising to assist each other in detecting and
punishing any man that violated his pledge. Delta Phi
held out longest of all, but finally gave up the ghost in
1877, and the long contest was ended. At least, that is
the official record. But there is reason to believe that the
chapter kept up a sort of shadowy post mortem exist-
ence for fifteen years or so longer. A Clio who grad-
uated in the early nineties recalls that he was surprised
and indignant at being invited to become a member.
First and last, from 1843 to 1877, ten different
Greek letter fraternities had chapters at Princeton —
eight of them in the fifties. All told, if we may rely
on the figures given by William Raimond Baird in his
"Manual of American College Fraternities," they en-
rolled a total of only four hundred and fourteen mem-
bers. But some three-fourths of the membership be-
longed to the critical years of the fifties ; and, as
was said at the beginning of this chapter, there is
no reasonable doubt, if the fraternities had been allowed
to flourish at Princeton as they did at the other colleges
of the country, that Whig and Clio would long ago
have become a memory.
CHAPTER V
Public Competitions and Honors
The history of one Hall is in many respects the his-
tory of both Halls. It is, indeed, difficult to think of one
without the other. Whatever change or improvement
one made was pretty sure very soon to be adopted by
the other, if not in precise form at least in substance.
In their dealings with the college authorities they acted
in unison, making known their wishes or presenting their
protests through joint committees ; for whatever affected
the welfare or prospects of one Hall was felt to be of
equal consequence to the other. So, for much more than
a century all extra-curriculum activities of the student
body were related more or less closely to the Halls.
Officers and committees of the various classes were com-
posed as nearly as possible of equal numbers of Whigs
and Clios; so, too, committees representing the general
student body, boards of editors of college publications,
and the like.
In later years, with the large increase of so great a
variety of extra-curriculum activities, the Halls have
lost their dominating position and influence. They still
enlist the active support of a larger proportion of the
117
118 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
students than any other single interest; but they no
longer control college life and college politics as they
used to do, and their activities no longer excite the
rivalry and the acclaim that they used to command.
Old graduates who remember how great a part the
Halls played in their student days may lament their
decline, if not in real influence on those that make use of
the opportunities and privileges they offer, at least in
their relative importance; but such lamentation is vain.
"Other times, other customs" holds true in the student
world as elsewhere, and institutions and exercises that
admirably serve the needs of one generation may make
slight appeal to the generations that follow. If the
Halls are to survive and to continue to be a strong and
vital influence in university life, — and after their long
and splendid history of usefulness it will be deplorable
if they do not, — they must not cling too insistently to
traditional methods, but must constantly adapt their
activities to modern student requirements.
The first appearance in public of representatives of
the two Halls, as such, was on July 4, 1783. Announce-
ment of this was made by an advertisement in the New
Jersey Gazette, which read:
Princeton, June 20, 1783.
The anniversary of the independence of America
[thus early was America used as synonymous with
United States'] will be celebrated in the College by two
orations delivered by young gentlemen appointed for
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 119
that purpose by the two Literary Societies established
in the Institution, in which they propose not only to
pay the tribute that is due to their country from youth
engaged in the pursuits of science, but to emulate each
other in the opinion of a polite assembly for the honour
of their respective Societies.
One may feel pretty confident that this dignified and
carefully phrased sentence did not emanate "from youth
engaged in the pursuits of science." It must have been
framed by some member of the Faculty; not unlikely
by Professor (afterward President) Samuel S. Smith,
who a few days later wrote a letter to the President
of Congress, Dr. Elias Boudinot (a trustee of the Col-
lege), offering Congress the use of the Prayer Hall and
the Library "as places in which to hold their sessions
or for any other purpose," in which he had this sono-
rous period : "And if, in the common shock of our coun-
try this institution hath suffered more than other places,
both by friends & foes ; from its readiness to assist the
one, while the public was yet poor & unprovided with
conveniences for its troops ; & from the peculiar &
marked resentment of the other, as supposing it to be
a nursery of rebellion, we doubt not but the candour of
that most honourable body will readily excuse the marks
of military fury which it still retains."
Dr. Ashbel Green in his autobiography gives us the
following account of the celebration: "Not long after
their meeting [that of Congress] at Princeton, the na-
IW THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
tional Jubilee, the Fourth of July, was to be celebrated ;
and then occurred the first instance of the Whig and
Cliosophic Societies appointing each an orator, to rep-
resent them as speaker before a public audience. I had
the honour to be the Whig representative, and my Clio-
sophic competitor was a classmate, by the name of Gil-
bert T. Snowden [the man whom he had lampooned].
It was considered as a point of some importance which
orator should speak first. This was decided by lot and
the lot was in my favour. The subject of my oration
was 'The superiority of a republican government over
any other form.' Congress made a part of our au-
dience, and the orators of the day were invited by the
President of Congress to dine with him and his other
invited guests at his quarters, which were with his sister,
then a widow, at her seat at Morven." (Ah, how many
a famous company Morven has entertained ! Long may
it still abide, "a haunt of ancient peace" !)
There remains no record of the theme discussed by
young Snowden, who later was a tutor in the College
and then entered the ministry. But it was no doubt
of an equally patriotic character. Apparently, from this
year on, the Fourth of July was regularly commemorated
in similar fashion by the two Halls. The "Journal at
Nassau Hall," from which quotation was made in the
preceding chapter, gives us entertaining particulars of
the celebration in 1786. June 29, the diarist writes:
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 1^1
"Both Societies held occasional meetings today, when,
in consequence of Dr. Smith's direction, three persons
were appointed from each Society to speak on the fourth
of July after the principal orations were deliv'd. Per-
sons from ours (Cliosophic), Messrs. James [Hender-
son] Imlay [1786], Jacob Camp [doubtless of the class
of 1787; he did not graduate], and Geo. Clarkson
[1788] ; from the Whig Soc'y, Messrs. Mat[urin]
Livingston [1786], Horace Stockton [Lucius Horatio
Stockton, 1787], & Henry Dees [the name appears fre-
quently in the "Journal," sometimes spelled "Deas" ; he
was doubtless of 1788, in which class there was also a
David Deas]."
Then, July 4, he tells the story of the day: "How
are the mighty fallen ! — This day for 3 or 4 years past
had been celebrated with the greatest elegance & festiv-
ity. Literary as well as many other entertainments ; the
day entirely devoted to relaxation & pleasure; Profes-
sors, tutors. Students partaking in common of a most
elegant dinner previously provided. But this year
the latter part of the celebration was knocked in the
head, the Faculty having determined it high treason for
any student to breakfast, dine, or sup out of the Stew-
ard's Hall, who was anyhow within reach of it. This,
by the by, the Steward would willingly have dispensed
with. For it is very currently reported & as generally
believed that his feelings were much hurt, his conscience
122 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
much strained, and his purse much impaired by the
punch, ham, & green peas which (mirabile dictu) were
had on this mem'ble day. The orations deliv'd in the
morn'g by S[amuel Finley] Snowden [1786, Clio — ^he
had been chosen by the Society as its orator on March
29] & Ed'd Graham [1786, Whig] were very well
spoken & in all other respects well conducted; a good
audience, polite & attentive ; the speakers complimented
by Dr. Smith. In the afternoon, partake with 3 or 4
students of a nicely elegant repast — fruit, preserves,
punch. At 5 o^clock, 6 other orations were deliv'd by
students — 3 from each Society & concluded with two
very humorous ones (Blunt & Anderson) [Possibly
Blunt was William Blount, of North Carolina, who was
admitted to Clio in 1785, but did not graduate. An-
derson was doubtless William A. Anderson (1789,
Whig). Here was very likely the beginning of the hu-
morous speech in Princeton on patriotic occasions, still
kept up on Washington's Birthday.] which terminated
the Literary exercises of the day. The day was ushered
out by the discharge of 13 rounds from a cannon in the
campus [the historic cannon?] which seemed to defuse
more gen'l satisfaction than had been felt before."
The number of orators for the Fourth of July cele-
bration varied in the early period, but finally it was
settled that each Hall should regularly appoint four
speakers, and, some years later, alternately a Reader of
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 123
the Declaration of Independence. The speaking took
place "in town," but just where we are not informed.
Probably it was in the open air when the weather was
propitious ; and people from the village and the vicinage
joined with the students in the celebration. This patri-
otic practice came to an end in 1839. The orators were
selected as usual in 1840. It was Clio's turn to name the
Reader, and thence the trouble rose. The annual report
of 1840 tells the story :
"Although our Society has been characterized by such
a great degree of harmony and peace within, yet a
threatening storm gathered without. The long and un-
interrupted peace, which previously existed between the
two rival Societies was violently ruptured at the com-
mencement of this session. . . . Last session one of our
members obtained through another a leaf from the min-
utes of the Whig Society [it had blown out accidentally
from Whig Hall and been picked up by a Clio], contain-
ing the names and duties of the officers not only, but the
whole internal government of the Hall. In justice
to our fellow member we state that his first intention was
to suppress this document [which, of course, he should
have done or have returned it to Whig Hall], but on
account of the solicitations of several friends he con-
sented to its divulgement. In a short time the whole
document was in the possession of all. The Whigs natur-
ally became very much exasperated, and the whole
IM THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
weight of their resentment fell upon our unfortunate
Brother.
"The Society afterwards thought proper to elect this
gentleman Reader of the Declaration of Independence
on the Fourth of July. He resigned on the ground that
his election would displease the Whigs; but as the So-
ciety had elected him on account of his qualifications for
that office and not for the purpose of insulting our rival,
they reelected him by an unanimous vote. As soon as this
became known to the Whig Society, they sent in a com-
munication addressed in a dictatorial and haughty
manner, declaring that unless we would withdraw the
obnoxious person and substitute another in his place,
they would not join with us in celebrating the day. A
reply was drawn up in which we stated that it was not
our intention to insult that body by electing the gentle-
man, and being conscious of this we could not retract.
They still persisted in the ground which they had taken,
and consequently the exercises of the day were unper-
formed by either, a thing which never occurred before in
the history of the two Societies.
"Thus the contest ended, but we apprehend its re-
newal when the time comes for appointing another
Reader. Each Society appoints one alternately to rep-
resent their body. It was our privilege last year, and
as the gentleman appointed by us was not recognized and
no Declaration was read, we daim the right of electing
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 1^5
the next one. They do the same. Now, to which So-
ciety does that right belong?"
The annual report of the next year continues and
completes the story:
"The celebration of the Fourth of July by the So-
cieties was this year defeated by causes arising out of
the difficulty of last year. The last person who per-
formed as Reader was chosen by the American Whig
Society. There has been no celebration since that time
and of course according to rotation it was our privilege
this year to elect a Reader. The Whig Society also
claimed it; but surely, consistently and honorably, we
could not allow them to represent us twice successively.
It would have been at variance with usage and with the
contract to which both Societies have subscribed. Our
cause seemed therefore palpable; there was no room for
doubt, no chance for error ; and we unanimously deemed
it to be our duty to have our stipulated right or to
secede — to celebrate with the Reader of our choice or
not to celebrate at all.
"We well know that it is policy as well as a pleasure
to exercise courtesy toward our neighbor, that civility in
intercourse is manly and that forbearance is virtuous;
and according to these sentiments as far as practicable
we have acted. The American Whig Society first took
offense, and we told them none was intended; and yet
making their own prejudiced opinions the arbiter in a
126 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
matter which concerned us both, they would deprive us
of a right as evident as it is reasonable, and which we
conceived the most refined rules of etiquette and the most
Christian-like charity would not permit us to yield.
"It is highly probable ( even should there be no altera-
tions in the college sessions) that the Societies will never
again jointly celebrate the birthday of our country.
And though we regret that a practice begun more than
half a century ago in the presence of our American Con-
gress should be interrupted by a trivial circumstance,
yet we believe the fault is not of our begetting, the
blame cannot be attached to us.''
Possibly, the quarrel might have been patched up, dis-
tressing as it was, in time. But it was not long after this
(1844) that the change in the college year was made
which brought the Commencement in June, and so there
was no longer a possibility of a Fourth of July celebra-
tion by the students. It must be admitted that the
Whigs had rather the best of the argument in the con-
troversy; that, in spite of Clio's protestation and spe-
cial pleading, the blame for the breaking up of the
ancient and laudable custom was rather upon her
shoulders. The Whigs had good cause to resent the
election of Crane — for that was the name of the
"brother" who gave publicity to the flying leaf of Whig
secrets ; and Clio had better have accepted Crane's res-
ignation and elected another Reader. And the follow-
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 127
ing year it had done better not to have insisted, in view
of its obstinacy of the year before, on its technical right.
The Whig resentment toward Crane was deep and
lasting. Mr. Alexander, in his "Princeton Old and
New," recounts: "A graduate who was at Princeton
during this terrible commotion relates that ten or twelve
years after leaving College he j oined the most prominent
social club in New York, and on entering the reading-
room one evening whom should he see but C — himself,
vho had become a physician of repute. The graduate
— full of the old Princeton feeling, which never dies in
a son of Nassau — was so shocked that it was as much
as he could do to 'hold himself down' and not to de-
nounce C — then and there as unfit for the company
of gentlemen. But sober second thought came to his
rescue, and he contented himself with avoiding his fel-
low clubman."
After the abandonment of the public celebration,
Clio continued its own particular observance of the na-
tional holiday as long as the 4th of July remained
within the college year ; and then, when the change in the
college year was made, the patriotic celebration was
transferred to Washington's birthday. This praise-
worthy practice was continued for many years, four or-
ators, sometimes more, being chosen to commemorate the
character and achievements of the Father of his Coun-
try, to express the patriotic sentiments of the Society,
128 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
and to discuss any timely question of large social or
political interest. What eloquence, what rhetoric,
what wealth of suggestions for all manner of reforms,
won applause from hands and voices, now long silent,
in those old Hall celebrations !
And just here we must not fail to recall that probably
one of the earliest celebrations of Washington's birth-
day ever held was conducted by the Cliosophic Society.
This was in 1794 while Washington was finishing the
first year of his second term as President, and nearly
six years before his death. The minutes record: "An
oration was delivered by Bro. Gama, who had been
previously chosen for that purpose, to the great satis-
faction of all present." "Bro. Gama" was Henry
Kollock (1794), afterwards for some years in the
Princeton Faculty and widely known as an eloquent
preacher.
The public competition between the Halls of longest
duration is what has long been known as the Junior
Orator Contest. Just when this was instituted the
writer has been unable definitely to ascertain. In the
Clio minutes of February 27, 1874, it is said, on what
authority does not appear, to have been begun in 1783 ;
but this is probably too early a date. There is record
that at the Commencement of 1784 there was a competi-
tion in oratory between the two Societies, each being
represented by a single orator chosen from the senior
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 129
class. It is possible that the idea of such a contest as
between the Halls at commencement time was suggested
by the success of the Fourth of July speaking. Or it
may simply have superseded, by a sort of natural evolu-
tion, an earlier custom which had been instituted by
President Witherspoon. This was a contest in oratory,
open to all undergraduates, held usually on the day pre-
ceding the annual Commencement. The first contest of
this kind was held in 1771, and then regularly for sev-
eral years.
Whatever its origin, the inter-hall contest soon be-
came firmly established in the interest and esteem of
the students ; probably before 1790. Mr. John R. Wil-
liams, in his book, "Academic Honors in Princeton Uni-
versity", on giving the names of the competitors from
the two Societies in 1805, says, to be sure : "This is an
early and isolated instance of competition between the
two Societies by four representatives from each, on the
evening preceding commencement day. This custom
Vas not regularly instituted until several years later,
when it became known as the 'Junior Commencement,'
the Junior orations of the present day." But this
is clearly erroneous. It is certain, at any rate, that
there was speaking "the night before Commencement"
in 1786. There are numerous references to preparations
therefor in the "Journal at Nassau Hall." Under
date of August 16, 1786, the diarist writes of a dis-
130 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
cussion he had had that day with a fellow Clio "of the
late measures of the Whigs in appointing persons to
speak the night before Commencement." It appears,
too, that the diarist himself was preparing to be one
of the speakers on that occasion, — unfortunately, the
Journal stops abruptly a few days before Commence-
ment, — and that he was to use an oration written for
him by Samuel Bayard [Clio, 1784], possibly a kins-
man, as he speaks in one place of a visit from "Uncle
Bayard." On receiving the oration, "which in general
pleased me very much," he had carefully transcribed it
and submitted it to Dr. Smith, by whom it was "pretty
well curtailed, and robbed, I thought, of some of its
greatest beauties." — ^The cruel doctor! After the
speaking that night, also, the diarist and a fellow class-
mate and Cliosophian, Nathaniel Higginson, were pre-
paring to surprise the audience with a presentation of
the dialogue "Doctors Neverout and Doughty." The
account of this speaking published in the Pennsylvania
Journal (October 11, 1786, fifteen days after it oc-
curred!) says twelve young men took part and it names
eleven. It does not mention the dialogue. There was
"a very numerous and respectable audience."
Moreover, the Clio minutes from 1792 (the earliest we
have) regularly report each year the election of orators
for the evening before Commencement; and quite as
regularly report each year an "occasional meeting"
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 131
held a few nights before Commencement for the purpose
of hearing the orations that were to be spoken in the
competition. For some years, however, the number of
orators was not limited to four, nor was the choice
confined to the junior class; sophomores being
likewise eligible. In 1793 seven orators were ap-
pointed ; but there were no commencement exercises that
year owing to the prevalence of yellow fever in Phil-
adelphia. In 1794 six men spoke, all juniors except
one. Not long after this the number was fixed at four.
In 1808 the Whigs for some reason refused to enter
the contest. In consequence of this, a few days before
Commencement, an "occasional meeting" of Clio was
called and four additional orators were chosen ; so that all
eight speakers "on the evening before Commencement"
that year were Clios. Of the four original speakers,
three were juniors and one was a sophomore. Of the
additional four, two were juniors, and two, sophomores.
In 1809 all four Clio speakers were juniors ; in 1810 two
were juniors and two were sophomores. But by the
next year the contest appears to have become an ex-
clusively junior function, for the minutes of September
25, 1911, report for that evening an "occasional meeting
for the purpose of hearing the Juniors" who were to
speak the evening before Commencement.
For a hundred years or more no distinction that stu-
dent life at Princeton offered was more highly regarded
132 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
or more eagerly sought after than the honor of being
one of the four men chosen to represent one's Hall in
this annual competition in oratory; and recognition by
the auditors, or in later times by the judges, as the best
orator was the crowning triumph of undergraduate
ambition. Until recent years the speaking took place
the evening before Commencement. It attracted a
crowded assemblage. Seats were in such demand that
strict rules for their distribution had to be enforced.
For many decades the expenses for programs, music,
etc., were borne by the contestants. Then the Halls
assumed them, share and share alike. Through a long
period, the speaking was regarded as an exhibition rather
than a competition. There were no prizes and no official
declaration was made of the relative merits of the ora-
tors. Indeed, in 1813 when the Faculty proposed to
oifer a prize for the best speaker, the two Halls "Re-
solved that on the evening preceding Commencement,
or any other period for the representation of each So-
ciety by its speakers, no person or persons of said
representation be permitted to speak as competitors for
the prize instituted by the Faculty, leaving them how-
ever at full liberty to do it at any other time they may
think proper." But for all that there was the keenest
rivalry for popular acclaim. The speakers wore their
hall colors and the Whigs and Clios of the audience
vied with each other in the loudness and prolongation
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 133
of the applause with which they expressed their approval
of the performances of their respective champions.
The orators were long elected in each Hall by a vote
of the members. This method of selection, at least for
many years, produced satisfactory results. The choice
was pretty sure to fall upon the men that were generally
recognized by the body of members as the ablest speak-
ers, for each Hall wished to make the best showing possi-
ble in public. But as the number of students increased
and aspirants for Junior Orator distinction became
numerous, the competition for election grew to be a
spirited contest. "Slates" were made, cliques were
formed, and electioneering campaigns were conducted
for weeks before the night of election, absorbing so much
time and attention of the students as seriously to inter-
fere with their college work. Even sectional prejudices
were at times invoked, and in the fifties the Greek letter
fraternities would combine to control the elections. The
election itself was frequently attended with wild and
tumultuous disorder, protracted far into the night, and
often naturally there was dissatisfaction, charges of un-
fairness, and bitter resentment when the votes were can-
vassed and the results were announced. The culmination
of turbulence was reached, as already noted, at the elec-
tion in March 1857, when twenty-nine men of the
defeated faction filed a fierce protest and boisterously
retired from the Hall.
134 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
The college authorities could not fail to take note of
these evil conditions, and they determined to devise some
plan for correcting them. The Halls were at once in
arms against faculty interference with what they held
to be a strictly hall matter — the right they had always
exercised of selecting their orators according to their
own rules, uncontrolled by outside authority. They ap-
pointed committees to act together in defense of their
ancient prerogative. These in June 1858 presented a
remonstrance to the college authorities against their
interference in the matter. The annual report of 1858
reveals how deep the feeling was. "The Hall," it says,
"was founded, built, paid for, and supported by the
students of Nassau Hall, and by those who graduated
from these walls. And we have always fancied, at least,
that we were a free and independent body, separate and
distinct from the College. Let this be as it may, we
now claim as our right the representation of our Hall
upon the college stage by four Junior Orators. . . .
We ask you to raise your voices in our behalf ; in behalf
of the liberties of Clio Hall. We believe you all must
feel that if the Trustees carry out their intentions it will
prove the ruin of our Society." Thereupon the annual
meeting approved of the remonstrance and appointed a
committee to present its resolution to the Board of
Trustees. Though the Trustees were as deeply im-
pressed as ever with the seriousness of the situation,
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 135
yet, in view of the hall protests, they decided to post-
pone action for the present, trusting that the Societies
themselves would "find and apply some appropriate
remedy to the admitted evils" of the existing method of
electing Junior Orators.
This hope of the Trustees was not realized; the evils
were not abated; and in December 1859 the Trustees
"by a unanimous vote transferred to the hands of the
Faculty the uncontrolled management of the election
of Junior Orators," as President Maclean notified a
Clio Hall committee early in 1860. Thereupon indig-
nant resolutions were adopted by the Hall; an appeal
was addressed to the Clio members of the Board of
Trustees, and the Whigs were invited to cooperate
with the Clios in action for the common defense of their
rights. While hall excitement was at its highest the
following letter was received from President Maclean,
of whose loyalty to Clio there was never any question:
College of New Jersey
Princeton, February 17, 1860.
To the Cliosophic Society: —
Inquiry having been made of me by one of your mem-
bers with respect to the action of the Trustees of the
College, at the meeting in December last, in reference
to the selection of speakers for the evening before Com-
mencement, I mentioned to him for your information
what instructions the Trustees had given to the Faculty.
Upon further consideration I deem it respectful to
you and incumbent upon me to make a more formal
statement to you of the matter. Learning with deep
136 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
regret that the selection of speakers continued to be
accompanied with excitement, disorder, and violation
of the rules of the College, the Trustees deemed it their
duty to withdraw from the Societies the privilege hith-
erto allowed them of selecting the speakers, and they
therefore instructed the Faculty to make the selection.
Having said thus much in regard to the action and
feeling of the Trustees, I can not close this communica-
tion without assuring you that in doing what they did
the Trustees were not regardless of your views and
wishes as made known to them a year or two ago; and
that if they could have devised a plan by which the
evils they sought to remedy could in future be prevented
without so radical a change in the manner of selecting
speakers, they would have adopted it in preference to
the one they did. Their only object was to remedy the
evils referred to above. While they must maintain that
so far as the College, its instruction, government, and
public exercises are concerned, the decisions of the
Trustees are by the charter of the College absolute and
final; yet I am confident that they desire to exercise
their authority in a manner acceptable to all concerned,
and to grant to the students every indulgence in their
power. What plan the Faculty will ultimately adopt
to carry into effect the order of the Trustees, I am
not able to say; but I can with confidence say that in
framing a plan for this purpose the Faculty will be
desirous to conform to the wishes of the Societies so
far as they can consistently with the object aimed at
by the Trustees.
Let me suggest that no hasty action be taken by the
Societies; but that the whole subject be seriously and
calmly pondered for some time at least. Nothing can be
gained by action at the present time which will not as
easily be gained after a deliberate examination of the
subject in all its phases; and hasty resolves might serve
only to embarrass the question.
Respectfully and affectionately,
fToHN Maclean.
Luther Martin, Class of 1766
[From the plate by Edwin, owned by the Maryland Historical Society]
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 137
Further protests on the part of the Halls were seen to
be unavailing. Whereupon a joint committee of the two
Halls was appointed to confer with the Faculty, and it
was arranged that the Halls should vote as heretofore
by secret ballot but that the ballots should be can-
vassed by a committee of hall members of the Faculty.
This plan, which was regarded at the time as "a settle-
ment both agreeable to the Faculty and honorable to
our Hall," did not do away with the electioneering and
the factional controversies which caused the greater
part of the evil. It only abated the disorder of election
night. So, in 1865, it gave way to the sensible method
which has ever since prevailed. All who desire to be
candidates for Junior Orator appointments in each
Hall engage in a speaking contest, and a committee of
hall members of the Faculty names the four men who
are adjudged to be the best speakers.
On the assumption by the Faculty of complete control
of the method of selecting the orators, the Trustees
authorized the Faculty to bestow four gold medals (or
books to the same value) on the four orators who in the
public contest should be decided by the judges (one
graduate member of each Hall and a member of the
Faculty) to be the best orators. These prizes were
given first in 1865. A few years later, by the will of
Henry A. Stinnecke (Clio, '61), another prize was
added. This was named in honor of John Maclean, who
138 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
had recently resigned the Presidency. It is one hundred
dollars and is given to the man who pronounces the best
oration, regarded from the standpoint of literary and
rhetorical excellence. This prize was awarded first in
1872. For two or three years, at one period, when
the endowment for this prize failed to produce revenue,
the Halls each contributed fifty dollars so that there
should be no interruption in the award of the prize.
In the fifty-one years that the faculty prizes have
been awarded (1865-1915), a Clio has taken , the first
prize twenty-six times; the second prize twenty-six
times ; the third prize thirty-one times ; the fourth prize
twenty-five times. In the forty-four years (1872-1915)
that the Maclean prize has been awarded, a Clio has won
it twenty-four times. Thus, of the two hundred and
forty-eight prizes awarded in the Junior Orator contest
in all these years, Clios have received one hundred and
thirty-two.
The Junior Orator Contest no longer commands the
interest that it formerly aroused. Instead of being
the most popular and brilliant performance of com-
mencement week, it receives practically no attention.
It takes place now on Saturday forenoon. The only
auditors are the judges and a friend or two of each of
the speakers. In place of the thronged assemblage of
other days, with music and flowers and all the circum-
stance of an envied occasion, the young orators now
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 139
must face the disheartening prospect of empty benches,
and their periods, however eloquent, can waken no re-
sponse but the maddening echo of their own voices. It
is all very distressing to the old graduate who recalls the
glory that was Whig and the grandeur that was Clio
in the days when college oratory still made appeal to the
taste and applause of "a polite assembly." tempora,
o mores!
Already in the early seventies of the last century there
was a growing feeling that the public exhibitions of
collegians were for the most part too unreal, too aca-
demic, too little related to actual life and thought. It
was under the impulse of this feeling that more stress
began to be laid in various universities on public de-
bating and that intercollegiate competitive debates also
were established, in which questions of contemporaneous
interest and importance were discussed. In Princeton
in 1876 the Lynde inter-hall debate was established,
Mr. Charles R. Lynde having given a fund to provide
three prizes. Three men are chosen from the senior class
in each Hall in much the same manner that the Junior
Orators are selected, and the three prizes are awarded
in the order of merit to the three successful competitors
in a debate held just before the trials for the appoint-
ment of intercollegiate debaters. In the forty years,
1876-1915, a Clio has taken first prize twenty-two
times ; second prize twenty-two times ; third prize seven-
140 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
teen times. Only in taking third prize has Whig sur-
passed Clia.
In July 1825 the Whigs submitted a proposition to
Clio, suggesting "the expediency of abolishing the speak-
ing on the evening before Commencement [evidently
from this mode of designation the speaking was not yet
known as the "Junior Orator Contest"] and of sub-
stituting in place of it some distinguished graduate
from the two Societies alternately, who will deliver an
oration before the two Societies assembled in the church
upon that occasion." Committees from the two Halls
weightily discussed this proposition, and presently
recommended to the Halls :
First: That it be [Lindley Murray might find it
difficult to justify that "be"] expedient, and that it
would redound to the credit of each Society, and have
a beneficial tendency [Ah, well, he is a hard-hearted
purist that would find fault with undergraduate expres-
sion when the sense of it is reasonably clear!] on the
parent Institution, if some distinguished honorary or
graduate member of either Society should be annually
appointed to deliver a discourse before them [Who
cares that this "them" has no grammatical antecedent?
You catch the meaning, don't you?] in joint meeting.
Second: That it is [no "be" here!] inexpedient to
abolish the speaking before Commencement.
The recommendation of the joint committee was ac-
cepted and ratified by the Halls, and the selection of
the first orator was generously conceded to Clio. The
choice fell upon the Honorable Samuel L. Southard (of
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 141
the class of 1804) of New Jersey, a very distinguished
statesman in his day. He was at that time Secretary of
the Navy in the Cabinet of John Quincy Adams. He
spoke Tuesday afternoon of commencement week in
September 1825 ; and his oration made an auspicious be-
ginning of a feature of the Princeton Commencement,
long held in highest favor, which endured for more than
fifty years. It was finally abandoned because of the
decreased and decreasing interest on the part of com-
mencement assemblages in anything that savored too
distinctly of the intellectual life. The commencement
period for some years has placed the greater stress on
all the unacademic activities of student life — social,
athletic, etc. ; and the more serious pursuits, the real
things that the University exists to exemplify and to
enforce, get scant attention and excite little interest,
as compared with other times, in the busy, happy,
pathetic days that mark the closing of the scholastic
year.
In the long period while this feature of commencement
week flourished, and men still cared for academic ora-
tory, many men of great fame and worth in American
public life represented Whig or Clio on the platform of
the old First Church, on Tuesday of commencement
week, speaking to enthusiastic and delighted audiences.
But who now would care for a list of their names or of
their subjects? Always they received the formal thanks
142 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
of the Societies, coupled with a request for permission
to publish their "able and eloquent" — and that indeed
they often were — addresses. In the library of the Uni-
versity, unread and unnoted, volumes of these addresses
are carefully preserved. Even a cursory thumbing of
their unsoiled pages shows they have a strong family
likeness, after the similitude of baccalaureate sermons.
They speak in tones of tender reminiscence of the joys
and the solicitudes of student life ; they voice regret that
fuller use of its opportunities was not made; they
abound in good advice and sound maxims of virtue, suffi-
cient to save the world. Ah, how familiar it all is, and
how little ardent youth, with all the world before them
where to choose, give heed to the wise admonitions of
those that already know somewhat of that world !
On more than one occasion the Societies sought to ar-
range to be represented alternately by a poet also at
Commencement. But the poets, for a wonder, seemed
to be exceeding shy of the wooing of the Halls, and so
all eiforts in this direction failed; without serious loss,
one may well believe, to literature. It is seldom, indeed,
that the "occasional" poem rises level to the occasion,
much less survives it.
There has always been great rejoicing in either
Hall when the record of the year has shown that it has
carried off the majority of the college honors. When,
as sometimes has happened, one or the other Hall has
COMPETITIONS AND HONORS 143
won all the chief honors for that year, the jubilation and
the exultation among the members of the winning Hall
have been exceeding great, and the depression and gloom
of the members of the other Hall correspondingly pro-
found, and yet relieved by a determination to show an-
other year that they were neither defeated nor dis-
couraged. Clio, especially in the earlier years of the
nineteenth century, manifested her pride in those of her
sons who won high honors in many ways. She bestowed
gold medals or keys upon them ; she hung their portraits
on her walls; and she wrote them elaborate letters of
congratulation and commendation which were spread
at large on the minutes, the adulatory phrases of which
are still, even in this colder and more prosaic age, a joy
to read.
Probably, in the long years since 1765, there has been
no great difference in the aggregate of college honors
taken by Whigs and Clios. It would be a tedious and
not very profitable task to compile the exact facts from
the records. From what examination the author has
made he believes there would be a slight preponderance
in favor of Clio. That at least is shown in the record of
the Junior Orator and the Lynde debate prizes already
given. It is shown likewise in the combined record of
the three chief honors of commencement day, the Latin
salutatory, the English salutatory, and the valedictory
oration. From the Commencement of 1765 to that of
144 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
1915 inclusive, except the years 1776-1778 when the
stress of war prevented regular commencement exercises,
a Clio was the Latin salutatorian eighty times. During
the hundred and twelve years in which the second honor
usually went to the English salutatorian a Clio received
the honor sixty-two times. From 1765 to 1915 (for
1767 there is no record of a valedictorian nor was there
any of course for 1776-1778) a Clio was valedictorian
seventy times. Thus of the four hundred and seven
possible honors of these three kinds Clio won two hun-
dred and twelve.
In scholarship, in debate, and in oratory, it is safe to
say, therefore, that the record of achievement shows
that the Cliosophians have been slightly superior to their
friends the Whigs.
CHAPTER VI
Insignia, Initiation, and Secrecy
The Whigs appear to have taken their motto at the
very beginning of their career. But Clio got on pros-
perously for more than fifty years without seeking to
embody in a striking phrase its predominating principle
or purpose. It had at an early day — just when the rec-
ords do not show — adopted pink for its colors, and this
has always been retained. And during half a century
the only badge seems to have been a simple pink ribbon.
In March 1817 it was proposed that some improvement
in the badge should be devised and a committee was ap-
pointed to offer suggestions to that end. On the evening
of April 8, 1817, the committee reported in favor of
adopting a motto, which with an image of the muse
Clio should be stamped on the ribbon of pink. The
committee submitted four mottoes from which the Hall
was asked to make selection. It promptly chose Prod-
esse qwam Conspici. What the other three were the
minutes do not disclose; regrettably, one cannot help
feeling, for it would be most interesting to compare what
was rejected with the noble choice that was made.
It would be interesting likewise to know how this
145
146 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
motto — that of the house of Somers — was brought to the
attention of the committee. Not improbably this was
done by some member of the Faculty, who recalled the
letter of Governor Belcher to the Trustees of the Col-
lege, modestly but firmly refusing to allow his name
to be attached to the new college building. The Trus-
tees had presented an address to the Governor, dated
Newark, September 24, 1755, thanking him in most
laudatory terms for his part and interest in the creation
of the College. The address ended with this sentence:
"As the College of New Jersey views you in the light of
its founder, patron, and benefactor, and the impartial
world will esteem it a respect deservedly due to the
name of Belcher; permit us to dignify the edifice now
erecting at Princeton, with that endeared appellation:
and when your Excellency is translated to a house not
made with hands eternal m the heavens, let Belcher-Hall
proclaim your beneficent act, for the advancement of
Christianity and the emolument of the arts and sciences,
to the latest ages."
In his reply Governor Belcher had these words: "I
take a particular grateful notice of the respect and
honour you are desirous of doing me and my family in
calling the edifice lately erected in Princeton by the
name of Belcher-Hall; but you will be so good as to
excuse me, while I absolutely decline such an honour,
for I have always been very fond of the motto of a late
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 147
great personage, Prodesse quam Conspici, But I must
not leave this head without asking the favour of your
naming the present building Nassau Hall."
At all events, whether by deliberate choice or by
happy accident, the motto connects our Society, in senti-
ment at least, with the memory of a most worthy gentle-
man and with the very beginning of Nassau Hall. The
significance of the motto is altogether admirable, alto-
gether worthy of acceptance as a guiding principle of
life. Literally it means "To be useful rather than to
attract attention." But any number of paraphrases
suggest themselves that perhaps better reproduce its
spirit: "Service rather than conspicuity" ; "Sub-
stance rather than seeming"; "Genuineness, not
pretence"; "Sincerity, not simulation"; "Seriousness,
not affectation"; "Reality, not counterfeit"; "Verity,
not verisimilitude" ; "Force, not 'front.' "
The motto at the time of its adoption both fairly re-
flected the quality that had always been characteristic
of the discipline of the Hall and fitly expressed the
principle which it was desired should be of compelling
force. It is safe to say that in all the long years since,
this motto has insensibly exercised a potent influence
for good, as inculcating a fine ideal of conduct, on all
the sons of Clio.
The simple badge of pink ribbon, bearing the figure
of Clio and the motto, continued in use for many years.
148 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
but evidently with many and various modifications.
Whether it was worn regularly or only on special or state
occasions does not appear. There is plenty of evidence
during these years of growing dissatisfaction with the
badge. It was "objected to not only by members of
the Society but by strangers, both on account of its
indelicacy [Poor, scantily draped Clio !] and its mean
appearance." Moreover, "when a Brother graduated
from the Hall he had no memento of the Society."
Something should be procured "which might be worn in
future life." The agitation came to a climax in August,
1835, when the Hall decided in favor of a gold badge,
to cost not more than five dollars, which every member
should be required to obtain. No description remains of
this badge, which was in the form of a medal. In all
probability it was worn, at least on public occasions,
in connection with the Hall colors. It is much to be
regretted, one must be allowed to repeat, that the Hall
has not preserved in its archives examples of its various
insignia — ^badges, medals, and keys — and copies of all
its oflScial documents, diplomas, catalogues, etc. The
work of its historian would have been vastly simpler and
altogether more satisfactory.
This new badge, superior as it was thought to be to
its predecessor, did not long please the Society. The
annual report of 1837 declares : "The badge has been
the cause of much dissatisfaction and a fruitful source
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 149
of contention. The original badge was quickly super-
seded by a new one and to this succeeded another, and
each in its turn was subjected to much alteration; that
they attracted attention [The grammar here is quite
hopeless] they seem to have changed their appearance
and modified their form almost with the succession of the
seasons. Indeed they form a congerie [sic] that might
serve to illustrate the different tastes and habits of the
successive occupants of the Hall. The last badge, which
was undoubtedly the most chaste and classical, was repu-
diated on account of its outrageous indelicacy, and in
adopting the present, our members complain that they
[who?] have bequeathed to us absolute vulgarity, and
an ornament which is better fitted to grace the tawdry
appendages of a martial champion than to distinguish
the calling of a student. It is proposed to disown the
badge now tolerated and restore a former one which is
more suitable to the purposes of a literary badge."
We are not surprised, therefore, to learn that in
November 1840 this badge was abolished, and a com-
mittee, composed of Frederick S. Giger, Theodore L.
Cuyler, Nathan M. Owen, and John D. Scott, was ap-
pointed to devise a new one. The committee's sugges-
tion was adopted a few weeks later. The new badge con-
sisted of a gold medal attached to a pink ribbon two
inches broad and eighteen inches long stamped with the
image of Clio, — ^whether as of old is not recorded. This
150 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
badge the committee "conceived to be the most classical,
and on that account the most appropriate badge for an
institution such as ours. It is also neat and chaste and
in every way becoming a literary society." What more
could one reasonably ask? But it is difficult to imagine
a Princeton student of later generations appearing on
the campus adorned with a pink ribbon two inches broad
and half a yard in length, — unless in preparation for
a pee-rade, and then, doubtless, it would never occur to
him that his decoration was "neat and chaste and in
every way becoming.''
In 1845 it was voted that the badge might be worn as
a pin, set off with a rosette of pink. In the next few
decades there were frequent discussions of the badge and
modifications or new forms were from time to time
aaopted. Gradually, however, the Hall ceased to attach
much importance to its emblem, and while the Clio pin
can still be had, few if any members care to possess one ;
and only on rare occasions are the historic colors worn
or displayed.
It appears from the records that the Clio grip has had
a continuous struggle for existence. When it was in-
stituted, no man knoweth ; but it is not improbable that
it dates from the very early days, for no secret society
feels itself fully equipped without possessing a secret
sign. But evidently it was not very seriously regarded
and tended to fall into disuse. For a long period it may
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 151
be doubted whether any Cliosophian ever even heard of
its early existence. The writer has noted only two refer-
ences to it in the minutes. In 1816 there is record of a
resolution "that the private sign (or grip) of the So-
ciety be given to new members when initiated." It is
evident from this that the grip was no new thing. Then
there is complete silence until 1838, when the Hall or-
dered "that the ancient grip by which members of
Clio Hall were formerly recognized by each other be
revived." This form of expression clearly indicates that
for some time the grip had ceased to be practiced. And
now the effort at revival seems not to have endured very
long, for General Alfred A. Woodhull, of the class of
1856, recalls that in his college days, while he was aware
that the Society once had a grip, he knew of no one
then in College that could tell what it was. But a few
years later it was resuscitated, possibly through the in-
terest and recollection of Professor John T. Duffield
('41), and began again to be ceremoniously imparted to
new members in the course of their initiation. It is
doubtful whether it is ever used after the first few days
of novelty have passed.
However useful a private sign or grip may be for a
secret fraternity of numerous chapters and wide-
reaching affiliations, it can have little value for the
members of a single local society. It is not strange,
therefore, that the Clio grip should so often have fallen
152 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
into complete disuse and that it has seldom seemed to be
of practical importance.
FofT the Cliosophic Society has never had affiliation
with any other society. Early in 1815 a body of stu-
dents at Yale College, who had seceded from the
Linonian Society of that institution, petitioned the
Hall for permission to constitute themselves a branch
of the Cliosophic Society. The petition excited lively
interest, and at the next regular meeting of the Hall the
subject for debate was the question, "Would it be
beneficial to the Cliosophic Society to establish a branch
in Yale College.'^" After earnest and ample discussion
the question was answered with an emphatic and almost
unanimous negative. A few years later, to a somewhat
similar request from a society at Dickinson College, the
Hall replied : "The nature of the institution is such as
not to admit of our forming any connection of the kind
proposed." And this attitude of absolute independence
and individuality has uniformly been maintained. The
name "Cliosophic" has in more than one instance
been applied to other American literary societies, sug-
gested no doubt by the fame of our Society, but no such
society has had any relations with ours.
In the first decade of the nineteenth century, the
custom was adopted of conferring gold keys upon men
of the graduating class who took high honors. In
1810, indeed, the Society voted a key to one brother
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 153
"in testimony of his being worthy of an honour though
not granted one by the Faculty"; — the Society evi-
dently feeling itself better qualified to determine a
question of this kind than the college authorities.
(There have been many instances when the Hall
has expressed indignant opinion of purblind faculty
judgment. In June 1848, for example, the clerk was
instructed by unanimous vote to write to the senior
Clios appointed by the Faculty to speak at Commence-
ment, requesting them in the name of the Society to
refuse to speak. Whereupon the Trustees took instant
and vigorous action.)
"The medal to be presented to those who obtain hon-
ours for the Hall," the record for 1816 declares, "shall
be a gold watch-key about one and one-half inches in
length and of proportionable width. On one side shall
be engraved the figure of a Grecian temple, as large as
the size of the key may render convenient ; in the Temple
a Female Figure in a proper habit [note that!] repre-
senting Clio, placing a crown of laurel upon the head
of a youth; on the top of the temple a winged figure,
representing Fame, sounding a trumpet ; over the Tem-
ple, in a circular form, the name of the person to whom
it is presented, and under the Temple on one line the
words In gradu Honoris, and on another line the honour
obtained, as primo, sectmdo, etc. (This last, however, is
to be inserted or omitted at the option of the person to
154 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
whom the medal is given.) Near the upper comers of
the key on the same side in the fictitious hand of the
Society the words, 'Founded 1765.' On the other side
of the key the words. Datum a Soc. Clio, Col. N, Caes
iv Kal. Oct. MDCCCXVI. (The date to be thus, or
otherwise as may really be the case.)"
So elaborate is this design that we are not surprised
at the appended note that "owing to the unskilfulness
of the workman this part [that of placing the 'Temale
Figure" in the temple] could not be carried into effect."
Mr. Bailey Tyler, of Haymarket, Virginia, has a
medal which was given by the Hall in 1819 to his
grandfather, William B. Tyler, of Virginia, who grad-
uated that year, being one the fifth-honor men.
(Remarkably enough that year — so inefficient was the
system of grading — three men took first honor ; one, sec-
ond honor; three, third honor; four, fourth honor;
eight, fifth honor, and four, sixth honor.) This is the
only honor medal that the writer knows to be in exist-
ence ; but it is not at all unlikely that others may have
been kept as heirlooms in the families of early Clioso-
phians. This medal is of about the same size as the one
just described, and bears on the reverse a Latin inscrip-
tion, fixing the date of its presentation, exactly corre-
sponding with that given above. But it differs very
greatly in the decoration of the obverse. Here we have
depicted a circular temple of eight columns with a
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 155
domed roof, from which radiate shafts of light. The
temple stands on what appears to be a mound. Along
a band above the temple runs a brief inscription in
cipher which is quite unintelligible now. Doubtless it
had pleasant significance to the happy recipient of the
medal.
In the earlier years keys were given only (except by
special vote) to men that had taken one of the four
highest honors in the graduating class. Then for a few
years they were given to all men on the honor list. Fi-
nally the/ distinction was confined to men taking the three
highest honors. The last year in which keys were given
was 1832; the Hall after thorough debate having come
to the wise conclusion that "the benefit thereby accruing
to each that received the keys was comparatively small,''
and that the money expended therefor might much more
advantageously be devoted to the increase of the library.
It was not many years after this, however, that the
practice was instituted of giving gold medals (or their
equivalent value in books) a-s prizes for success in con-
tests of oratory, essay writing, and debate within the
Hall. These contests have undoubtedly been highly
beneficial in stimulating interest in the literary and
oratorical activities of the Hall.
From its very beginning, in all probability, it has
been the custom of the Hall to grant a diploma to every
graduate that had faithfully performed his hall duties.
156 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
At any rate, there is positive evidence that the Plain-
Dealing Society, the predecessor of the American Whig
Society, granted a diploma in 1766. A copy of this
document is given in Professor Giger's History. It may
confidently be inferred, therefore, that the Well-Meaning
Society had adopted the same practice, and that this
practice was continued by the Societies when they were
revived under the new names. Indeed, the University
Library has a Whig diploma given to a graduate in
1773, four years after the Society's formation.
Just what the original form and wording of the Clio
diploma were, is not known. The University Library
has recently come into possession of the Clio diploma
and the College diploma granted to Silas Wood, later an
eminent lawyer, legislator, and the first and foremost
historian of Long Island, who graduated in 1789. Both
diplomas are in manuscript throughout, and are ad-
mirable examples of the penmanship of the period. Both
are without embellishment other than the ornamental
capitals and flourishes of the scrivener. Both have,
inserted, a broad ribbon of the Clio pink, sealed respec-
tively with the Clio and the College seal. We may infer,
therefore, that the College diploma of a Whig at that
time would have borne the Whig colors. This Clio
diploma is much more elaborate than the College di-
ploma. It is an oblong parchment sheet, thirteen by
twenty inches' in size. This is' the most ancient Clio
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 157
diploma that the writer has seen. It may well be that
it gives us in shape and wording the original diploma;
but as to this no positive assertion can be made.
Nor do we know when the first engraved diploma
was procured. It is certain, however, that at the begin-
ning of the nineteenth century the phraseology was
modified and a new design for an engraved diploma, no
description of which remains, was obtained. Again in
1811 a new engraving was ordered, to cost not to exceed
$800, when the choice of Hercules between Virtue and
Pleasure was decided upon to be its ornamental feature.
Evidently this did not prove to be altogether satisfac-
tory, for four years later there was a demand for a new
design. Of this diploma the Hall possesses an example,
hanging framed conspicuously in the main corridor. It
is the diploma conferred in 1816 on John Maclean, des-
tined to play so illustrious a role in the history of the
College and of the Society.
Subsequently, at various times, there were further
modifications in form of expression and emblematic
delineation. These frequent changes, like the similar
changes in the constitution, the laws, and the language
of the ceremonial addresses, afford further evidence of
that quality which has been a constant characteristic of
the Society — the desire to make its institutions and ut-
terances conform to present needs, present conceptions,
present ideals. The fundamental principles and aims
158 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
have resolutely been maintained, but methods of accom-
plishment and modes of expression have changed with
the changing fashions of the times. So only can any
social organism continue alive and alert.
The initiation into the Hall has pretty generally been
attended with much pomp and circumstance — and, alto-
gether too frequently, with other things. The details are
much better left to the imagination or to the recollec-
tion of one's own experience, even if it were quite proper
to set them down in cold type. The minutes afford ample
material for a chapter on the varying methods of initia-
tion, which at one time or another prevailed, with suffi-
cient hints of the accompanying unauthorized and even
forbidden activities intended to increase the hilarity of
the occasion, to enable one pretty accurately to guess
what things were doing far into the wee small hours of
old initiation nights. Elaborate schemes of initiation
were formally adopted at times by the Hall, ingenious,
impressive, and bewildering, and these were perpetrated
with a zeal and solemnity worthy of a nobler cause.
There are intimations of prolonged blindfolded proces-
sions up and down stairs, the way impeded with unac-
countable pieces of furniture, of sudden descents by
trap-door or slippery inclined plane to a room hung in
sepulchral black, made hideous with gruesome emblems,
and lighted only with blue flame ; and much, much more,
of equally awe-inspiring or terrorizing quality.
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 159
For the most part these fantastic performances, silly
and childish as they may have been, were free of all
harm; though now and then a youth of sensitive or
highly nervous temperament was so affected that there
would be a buzz of comment about the campus for a
few days, and on more than one occasion investigation
and rebuke from the Faculty followed. Once, indeed.
President Maclean, on hearing exaggerated rumors of
certain initiation devices, wrote an expostulatory letter
to the Hall. The Hall replied with offended, almost
presumptuous, dignity: "The subject precludes discus-
sion outside the Hall." Even young men of steady
nerves and wholly normal temperament did not always
recall initiation night without a flush of resentment.
Robert McKnight ('39), speaking in 1865 at the cen-
tennial celebration, said: "I do not know what im-
pressions were made upon the minds of the rest of the
Clios present at their initiation; but I know that upon
my young mind they were peculiar and not altogether
desirable. I remember the gorgons, the mysteries, the
shapes most dire, painted on the walls as we were taken
up the staircase; and I must confess I felt very much
like the hero of the Mantuan bard, Obstupui, stetenmt-
que comae, et vox faucihus haesit." But apparently
in the earlier time the initiation was decorously con-
ducted. The letter from a graduate of 1802, given by
Professor Giger, asserts: "The ceremony of admission
160 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
was the most solemn and impressive I have ever known
in my experience. The unlooked-for dignity and se-
riousness of the scene quite overturned my levity, and I
could scarcely believe the change one brief hour had pro-
duced. And I am far from being impressionable, to use
a Gallicism."
Now and again there was lively discussion in the
Hall over the excesses of initiation night; and the
determination would be reached to reform them alto-
gether. Then for a period extreme dullness and de-
corum would characterize the occasion, until there would
be a demand for a return to the old order, the new mode
of procedure, as a special committee on the subject in
1858 declared, not being "sufficiently horrific and melo-
dramatic." Even at the present time, if report speak
truly, initiation night has not been robbed of all its
anxieties for the neophyte. The very word "initiation"
seems to suggest to the youthful mind (perhaps, also to
the average man, no longer youthful) that some more or
less ludicrous or terrifying ordeal should accompany its
fulfilment. But one might reasonably suppose that
entrance into a literary society could be signalized by
some form of ceremony which should be much more im-
pressive and convenient (in the good old meaning of that
word) than grotesque horse-play or frivolous, if harm-
less, indignities.
Down to the autumn of 1851 it was the custom in
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 161
Hall to use the term "Brother" in addressing a fellow
member or referring to him. Then the practice was
abandoned and "Mister" was used until the spring of
1857, when, on the advice of the old graduates. Brother
was brought back into use and so continued until the
revision of the constitution in 1862. Of course this
form of address was forbidden in public. It was one of
the jealously kept secrets, and its use in the hearing
of an outsider, even though quite involuntary, subjected
the culprit to discipline.
All the other secrets, relating to the titles of the offi-
cers, the fictitious names, the kind and order of the
exercises, etc., etc., were of similar intrinsic importance,
and every effort was made religiously to guard them.
The Cliosophians were no more zealous in this respect
than the Whigs. Woe unto the meniber of either Hall
that wilfully divulged to a member of the rival society
anything that took place in Hall or any fact regarding
its officers or activities. He was sure to be dealt with
summarily and severely.
Each Hall assisted the other in discovering and disci-
plining those guilty of blabbing. Even thoughtless in-
advertencies of speech or unconscious allusions to Hall
affairs from which a Whig might draw inferences
brought condemnation and reproof. The minutes
abound in transcripts of correspondence between the
Halls on this score, in accounts of investigations by
162 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
committees, in reports of trials of men charged with this
oifense, and in statements of the penalties inflicted.
A favorite method of "hoaxing" a freshman soon
after his admission to Hall was for a group of sopho-
mores, all Clios but one of whom pretended to be a
Whig, to enter into conversation with the freshman.
The pretended Whig would mention casually some pro-
found Clio secret. The others would be indignant and
demand how he knew. He would boast that he knew
much more than he had already intimated and give the
poor freshman as his authority. The latter's protesta-
tions of innocence would be scouted, his accuser asking
him reproachfully if he had really forgotten what he
said the other night when he had taken too much.
Whereupon more reproaches from the group ; more hints
of dire consequences when the Hall should take up the
case; more amazement that he could have been so un-
mindful of his oath; more pity for his impending dis-
grace, until the protesting, denying, appealing youth
was thoroughly frightened. Then the tormentors either
relented, and, revealing the hoax, made the freshman
stand treat, or they left him to his misery until he
someway learned the truth himself.
Unquestionably this determination of the Halls to pro-
tect their secrets, however unimportant they really
were, had a beneficial influence on the members. It
exalted the dignity of the Halls in the estimation of
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 163
the members ; it stimulated their loyalty and rivalry ;
and, more important still, it impressed them with the
high duty of faithfully observing their plighted word.
It did not so much matter that the secrets themselves
had little significance. It mattered greatly that the
promise to hold them sacred should not be violated.
Here was a real test of character. .
Doubtless the secrecy of the Halls, such as it was,
long served a good purpose. The minutes afford re-
peated evidence that for a century or more it was in-
tensely cherished. Thus, one evening in 1799, a mem-
ber was censured for leaving a painter alone in the
Hall; and this incident led to the immediate adoption
of two resolutions for the better protection of the Clio-
s'ophic mysteries. The first ordered "that whenever any
member [shall] introduce any person not a member of
this Society into the room, he shall remove all the books
and papers indicative of the proceedings of Society
from view and the tables from their proper places."
The second made it the duty of "the key-keeper to bum
all the useless papers lying in the Hall which would lead
to a discovery of the secrets of this Society." Regula-
tions of similar intent are frequently recorded. The
annual report of 1854, after recounting the entrance
of a stranger by mistake into the Hall and the conse-
quent purchase of a secret lock "to prevent the recur-
ance (sic) of similar accidents," goes on to say: "By
164 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
this means we can preserve our secrecy inviolate. Ever
may it continue so, and never may the day come when
Clio Hall and her mysteries shall be exposed to the
impertinent gaze of the world."
But long ago there began to be those in both Halls
who questioned the utility of continuing to maintain
secrecy. These in later years constantly grew in num-
bers and influence; and early in the college year 1914-
1915, as the result of renewed agitation and negotiation
between committees of the two Halls in the preceding
semester, their view prevailed and secrecy as between the
two was practically abolished. Under present condi-
tions the business proceedings of the Halls still remain
secret, and students that are members of neither are
not permitted to enter the doors of either of them at
any time. But a Whig may enter Clio Hall with a
Clio, or a Clio, Whig Hall with a Whig, except at the
time of business meetings or hall smokers ; and either
Hall may be opened for inter-hall debates, or for the
meetings of literary clubs, composed of Whigs and
Clios, or for speeches by outsiders which members of
both Halls may attend.
The hope is that these ancient institutions of student
self-culture in intellectual activities and in parlia-
mentary training are entering on a new epoch of in-
creased vigor and usefulness. As a propitious sign for
the future, it may be noted that immediately under the
INSIGNIA, INITIATION, SECRECY 165
new relations, a series of inter-hall debates, taking
place alternately in each Hall, was arranged; and dur-
ing the year Clio provided a notable course of eight
lectures, open to members of both Societies, by men of
very great distinction as publicists and writers, who
spoke on various questions relating to the frightful
European war.
CHAPTER VII
Interests and Incidents
The minutes from the earliest years, as well as the
annual reports, show that the hall library has been an
object of constant solicitude. For many decades, when
the college library was meagrely supplied, the hall
library was a most valuable supplement to that of the
College, and the Hall regularly appropriated for the
purchase of new books all that it could possibly spare
after paying the necessary running expenses. The
books selected were for the most part, as records of
purchases show, the works of standard authors in pure
literature, in history, politics, travel, science, and
scholarship. By the time the new Hall was built the
single upper room in what is now Stanhope Hall which
had to serve the Society for all purposes was over-
crowded with books, the number being more than
twenty-five hundred.
The care of the books in those years was always a
serious problem. There seems to have been no exact
system, or if so great laxity in enforcing it, of account-
ing for the books taken out or making certain of their
return. Men were fined, to be sure, for using the books
166
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 16T
without covering them and for retaining them overtime.
But evidently it was easy for men to take books away
without leave and to forget to return them. There is
frequent complaint of missing books, of valuable sets
being broken, of books with the Clio mark turning up
in second-hand shops and out of the way places. Reg-
ularly near the end of every college year committees of
search were appointed to scour the college and seminary
rooms and the houses of the village and gather in the
missing and forgotten books. A careful investigation
of the library early in 18S8 revealed, to the amazement
of the members, that nearly nine hundred volumes were
missing. Prodigious efforts were put forth to rescue
them. A notice even was inserted in the Princeton
Whig, calling upon everyone that had Clio books im-
mediately to return them. But more than half of the
missing volumes failed of recovery. From time to time
the broken sets and the old and worn books were weeded
out and disposed of by lottery or sale to members or
were sold to second-hand dealers to make room for new
and more desirable works.
It was not till long after the library was established
in its own room in the new Hall that anything like an
orderly arrangement of the books, an adequate cata-
logue, or a reasonably effective method of insuring the
safety and return of books lent came into existence.
Very few, if any, of the books purchased in the older
168 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
time now remain in the Hall library. Most that still
endured were transferred to the University Library some
years ago. Indeed, the only ancient volume that the
writer has observed on the shelves is one with a history.
It is Littleton's "Latine Dictionary In Four Parts,
I An English-Latine II A Latine-English III A Latine
Proper IV A Latine Barbarous, Wherein The Latine
and English are adjusted, with what care might be, both
as to Stock of Words and Properties of Speech,'^ which
was printed in London in 1678. It was presented to
the Society by John Provost just after his graduation
in 1833. In the autumn of 1864 it was thrown on a
scrap heap, because of its worn condition. Thence it
was rescued by Charles F. Richardson {^65)^ of Had-
donfield. New Jersey, who retained it for more than
fifty years. On January 23, 1915, Mr. Richardson
restored it to the Hall, "as a relic of early printing,
with the request that it remain in the library as long
as it exists, and then go to the University Library for
preservation."
The library now is probably not appreciably larger
in the number of its volumes than it was a half century
ago. Its shelves are devoted principally to belles let-
tres, to works of fiction, both of the great novelists of
the past and of modem writers, and to books of current
popular interest.
In the annual report for 1865 special attention was
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 169
given to the needs of the library, its fallen state, and
the lack of money for its renewal, and the suggestion
was made that steps should be taken to create an en-
dowment fund of ten thousand dollars. The annual
meeting "highly approved" of this suggestion, and
"recommended to the attending members to take im-
mediate measures for carrying this suggestion into ef-
fect." Accordingly, at the beginning of the next college
year, the Society promptly acted, appointing a com-
mittee, of which Professor John T. Duffield, ever willing
and indefatigable in the service of Clio, was made chair-
man, to solicit subscriptions. This committee at once
sent out an appeal to Cliosophians, urging "that unless
the endowment of our library be speedily consummated,
we can not hope to compete with our rival successfully
in the future as in the past." The appeal brought
meagre results. The first considerable gift to the de-
sired end was made at the Commencement of 1868 by
the Honorable John I. Blair, who a few years later was
to contribute so generously to the new building fund.
He gave the Society one thousand dollars. At the same
time fifteen members of the graduating class pledged
themselves to give ten dollars yearly for three years.
Other similar pledges were made by later graduates and
contributions were made at annual meetings until in
1874 the fund was something more than four thousand
dollars. No efforts have been made since that period to
170 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Increase the endowment, which is now exactly $4000
and is invested in bonds. Professor John T. Duffield
was the trustee and administrator of the fund as long
as he lived. It is now in the custody of Dean William
F. Magie. The fund has produced a steady though not
large income for the support of the library.
The Society possesses one other endowment fund.
For this it is indebted to the well-known New Jersey
philanthropist. Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, an honorary
member of 1889. It is the sum of one thousand dollars
which Dr. Coles gave to the Society in October 1902.
According to the terms of the letter of gift, the ac-
cumulated interest from this foundation is to be "ap-
plied every four years for the purchase of a portrait
bust of George Washington, to be cast in bronze at the
Barbedienne Foundry in France from the model made
from life by Jean Antoine Houdon in 1788," which shall
be given to the member of the Society, who, in a compe-
tition open to all members, shall be adjudged to have
delivered the best original speech on some patriotic sub-
ject. This prize has been competed for at regular inter-
vals since its institution. The principal of this fund is
to be kept intact in perpetuity to serve its praiseworthy
purpose. It is at the present time administered by Dean
William F. Magie.
The first catalogue of the members of the Society
appeared in 18S2. It had been in preparation for three
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 171
or four years, the work involved being very great. No
copy is at present extant, so far as the author knows.
Doubtless it was incomplete and abounded in inac-
curacies. At irregular intervals since, catalogues have
been published, and it is evident that great effort has
been made to give a complete and accurate list of the
membership. But the effort has sadly failed of realiza-
tion. The latest catalogue, that of 1914, is very far
from being what it should be. Errors of omission and
commission are deplorably numerous. Only by a most
careful and painstaking reexamination of the minutes
of the Society and other sources, with constant com-
parison with the general catalogue of the University,
would it be possible to present a reasonably correct and
satisfactory list of Clio's sons. It is to be hoped that
this task may sometime be undertaken.
The first reference to the railway, noted in the min-
utes, appears in June 1845. The Hon. George M.
Dallas (1810), at that time Vice-President of the United
States, had promised to preside at the annual meeting.
The Society made preparations to give him a special
welcome on his arrival from Philadelphia. It was ar-
ranged that a carriage with a committee of four (two
members of the Faculty and two students) should meet
him at the railway "depot" — then down by the canal —
and escort him to the village. But at the eleventh hour
Mr. Dallas was obliged by an event of national signifi-
172 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
cance to forego attendance at Commencement. His let-
ter to the clerk of the Society, regretting his inability
to keep his engagement, is worthy of record:
Philadelphia, June SI, 1845.
My dear sir: —
It is with real regret that I am obliged very suddenly
and unexpectedly to apprize you of my inability to com-
ply with my engagement to preside in Clio Hall on
Wednesday next. The citizens of Philadelphia have
been greatly agitated by the death of General Jackson.
They met without distinction of political party, and
having resolved on a civil and military funeral proces-
sion, selected me to deliver an eulogium. Of this a com-
mittee from the town meeting has just apprized me:
and I hasten to say that a public duty of this sort
could alone prevent my being in Princeton on Wednes-
day. The solemnity here takes place on the morning
of Thursday. I will thank you to communicate the
matter to my young brethren.
Your friend and servH,
G. M. Dallas.
David Stevenson Esq.
The minutes of the Society show every degree of care
and carelessness in their transcription. There is every
variety of chirography from copperplate perfection to
crabbed illegibility. Only in a few instances, however,
have the clerks manifested marked weakness or striking
originality in spelling. Many clerks have set off their
minutes with really noteworthy frontispieces and tail-
pieces, showing clever pen-and-ink or water-color de-
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 173
signs, and have employed various inks for initial
capitals. This practice was common along about
1840. Especially notable are the artistic performances
of J. J. Crane, Theodore L. Cuyler ( afterwards a famous
divine), and Eli Whitney in 1839, and of R. G. Remsen
in 1840. A clerk's title page in April 1866 gives us
the first intimation we find in the minutes of the exist-
ence of baseball. This presents a pen-and-ink sketch
showing ball, bats, cap, shoes, and belt in artistic ar-
rangement. In the following autumn there is a report
of two famous games played on Clio's challenge be-
tween nines of the two Halls. Clio won both games ; the
first by a score of 41 to 12, the second by a score of
32 to 13 ! The Whigs were evidently rapidly improving
in their play. However, there is evidence in the "Jour-
nal at Nassau Hall," kept by a Clio in 1786, from which
quotation has already been made, that something
known as base ball was practiced by the students long
before this. Under date of Wednesday, March 22, 1786,
the diarist writes : "A fine day ; play baste ball in the
campus, but am beaten for I miss both catching and
striking the Ball."
So, too, the first allusion in the minutes to the actual
existence of the Civil War is seen in the depiction of
three soldiers on the decorative title page of the min-
utes of clerk Wilberforce Freeman ('64), in August
1862. Strangely enough, as one can not help feeling.
174 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
the minutes contain no allusion to the exciting political
campaign of 1860 or to the secession developments in
the South that rapidly followed. The first intimation
of the storm that was brewing is found in the spring of
1861, when two Southern members of the Hall that had
been chosen as Junior Orators resigned their appoint-
ment; one of them, Edward F. Neufville, of Savannah,
declaring that he was "compelled on account of the
present agitated state of the country to return to his
home in the South."
The subject for the prize debate in the fall of 186^
read : "Was the President right in suspending the writ
of habeas corpus?'' Other subjects of debate, reflect-
ing interest in the stupendous national controversy,
were, in 1863: "Which is the best friend to the United
States, England or France.^" (Decided in favor of
France.) "Is a paper currency sufiiciently safe to war-
rant its continuance?" (Negative won.) In 1864:
"Should England be held responsible for the depreda-
tions of the Alabama?" (Affirmative won.) "Is the
emancipation proclamation justifiable?" (AflSrmative
won.) "Is there sufficient reason to believe that after
this war the union of these States will be perfected?"
(Affirmative won.) On March 10, 1865, just a month
before Appomattox : "Should we accept propositions of
peace from the South?" (Affirmative won.) On May
12, 1865 : "Would it be wise for the President to issue
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 175
a general amnesty to all who have been Rebels?" (Af-
firmative won.)
The Hall showed its patriotism also in another way.
The custom still prevailed in those years of adopting
resolutions of condolence and appreciation when the
death of any Clio was announced. The minutes record
such resolutions concerning many men that perished on
the perilous edge of battle. The Hall, for example,
lamented the death of Adjutant Josiah Simpson Studdi-
ford ('58), "who fell while gallantly leading his regi-
ment (4th New Jersey volunteers) against the traitorous
foe. His memory should be more honored when he has
fallen in so glorious a cause." Similar expressions
abound. "We ever love," the Hall in one instance de-
clared, "to honor those who have yielded their lives in
defense of liberty." In September, 1863, a committee
was appointed to draft resolutions on the death of S. T.
Black ('57), of Arkansas. The committee reported that
it had learned that Black had died in the Confederate
service and asked further instructions. Whereupon it
was immediately discharged. In the year following the
close of the war, the Hall ordered a compilation and
engrossing of a roll of honor to contain the names of
all the sons of Clio who had served in the Union army
or navy, with special note of those that had sealed their
patriotic devotion with their blood.
Tuesday evening, April 18, 1865, four days after the
176 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
tragedy at Ford's theatre, a mournful special meeting
of the Society was held. It was ordered that the Hall
be draped in black "in token of our sorrow for the death
of our Chief Magistrate." At the annual meeting in
June following, joy at the ending of the war and grief
at the tragic death of Lincoln found expression in ap-
propriate resolutions.
Another instance of the display of patriotism by the
Hall, of much earlier date, is worthy of brief record.
This was the presentation at considerable cost of a block
of marble, decorated with symbolic relief sculpturing
and bearing an appropriate inscription, to be used in
the Washington Monument at the national capital.
Full details of this event are given by Professor Giger
in his History. The matter was proposed in February
1851. The block was completed in June 1853, and pre-
sented through Dr. Frederick S. Giger ('41), who had
been zealous in promoting the gift. In his letter of
presentation. Dr. Giger recalled the fact that at the
Commencement of 1783, when Congress was meeting in
Nassau Hall, Washington had given fifty guineas to
the College ; that this sum had been expended, not in re-
pairs of the dilapidated building, but in having a full
length portrait of the General painted by Charles W.
Peale; that this portrait was now hanging in the Col-
lege, "in the very frame which contained the picture of
King George, and which was decapitated by Washing-
ton's artillery"; and he added:
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 177
"We, therefore, with no ordinary emotion, bring this
offering to the memory of him whom we have ever re-
garded as our model, and whose name always enkindles
our patriotism. . . . No sculptured stone, no glowing
phrase, can adequately portray the unutterable elo-
quence of the heart. The block which we present is but
a shadowy type of the veneration and homage which has
ever gone forth from our literary temple as a rich cloud
of incense to the great and good Washington. No
Congress has ever assembled since the Revolution, in
which this Institution has not been largely represented.
Her graduates have occupied and are now adorning the
highest offices in the State. They have always been
found bearing testimony to the homage which we here
pay to his memory by their devotion to and defense
of the great principles which he bequeathed to our
country."
There have been innumerable notable gatherings in
the Hall, when distinguished graduates have returned to
renew their fealty and to speak words of encourage-
ment, pleasant to hear, to the attending members; or
when "occasional," or special, meetings have been held
to welcome famous men to honorary membership. May
9, 1817, "an occasional meeting was called for the pur-
pose of admitting to Society the Hon. James Monroe,
President of the United States, and General [Joseph]
G. Swift, who accompanied the President on a tour
178 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
through the country." In September, 1824, great
preparations were made for the initiation of General
La Fayette and his son George Washington La Fayette.
Special diplomas were executed and gold medals were
ordered for presentation. But some way, alas! our
friends, the Whigs, stole a march on Clio. The annual
report dolefully recites: "In recounting the principal
events which have occurred during the past year we
would notice an affair which has caused great excitement
among us. We refer to the admission of Major General
La Fayette. This distinguished patriot was prevailed
upon to give his consent to be proposed an honorary
member of Society, but owing either to the exertions of
our rival or the lukewarmness and treachery of our own
members, we were deprived the pleasure of evincing to
the ^National Guest' our respect and veneration by
initiating him during his visit to this place." Similar
special preparations were made for the initiation of
President John Quincy Adams in September, 1825,
and for President Andrew Jackson and "Governor
Cass of Michigan" in June, 1833. On November
16, 1834, Henry Clay, at that time a Senator, was
initiated and received with enthusiastic welcome. He
had been elected to honorary membership seventeen
years before, while he was Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
June 27, 1865, the Society celebrated the hundredth
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 179
anniversary of its founding. A full account of the cele-
bration is appended to Professor Giger's centennial
History. It is necessary here, therefore, to give only
a brief summary. In the morning a procession of Clio-
sophians. Trustees, members of the Faculties of the Col-
lege and the Seminary, representatives of other literary
societies, and guests, was formed in front of Nassau
Hall and marched to the First Church. Chancellor
Henry W. Green ('20) presided. President John Mac-
lean ('16) offered prayer. A history of the Society was
read by Professor George Musgrave Giger ('41), and
an oration was delivered by the Reverend Edward Norris
Kirk ('20), at that time of Boston and one of the noted
pulpit orators of the day.
Dr. Kirk's theme was "Self-Culture," its purpose and
the means and methods of its attainment. His words
were addressed particularly to the young men in Col-
lege. He urged them to strive for the development of
all their powers, physical, mental, moral, and religious.
"Aspire, young friends," he said, "aim high, soar, —
the impulse is noble, but it needs qualification and guid-
ance. Fame is not the goal; men's admiration, power,
position, are not the end to seek; they are too low for
man, made in the image of God. There is a better way,
a better end. Your own Cliosophic motto gives you
the key, Prodesse quam Conspici. Be rather than seem ;
seek excellence and usefulness before admiration." "The
180 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
only thorough self-culture," he said in conclusion, "in-
volves growing into likeness to Christ. He that will ar-
rive at the fullness of the stature of perfect manhood,
must pass beyond the heroes of pagan Rome, the sages
of pagan Greece ; yea, even the chief apostle of Christian-
ity, for his ultimate model. His work is that of the
sculptor, who having found some splendid fruit of Gre-
cian art places it in his studio; you enter, and behold,
he is rapt in admiring contemplation of this model.
Then, fired with enthusiasm, he turns from that to the
rude block of marble before him; cutting and filing,
dashing off as incumbrances every particle of the
precious stone which hinders the perfection of the
likeness. This must be brought to resemble that.
To secure this resemblance is the work of his hand,
and of his soul, — of his life. Hie labor, hoc opus
est, — Young brethren, to shine as planets in the upper
firmament, you must get all your light from the
Central Sun."
When the exercises in the church were over, a colla-
tion was served in Mercer Hall, which was decorated
with the mottoes of the Halls and with the names of the
founders and other distinguished sons of Clio. The
first toast proposed was "Our Sister Association — the
American Whig Society," to which Colonel William C.
Alexander ('24) responded. His speech was in praise
"of the institution with which these two Societies are
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 181
connected," in thinking of which "we stand on a com-
mon platform. Her glory is our glory; her reputation
is the joint property and possession of the two So-
cieties." Aye, verily, from of old and always! "No
clime is so remote," he said, "that it has not been vis-
ited ; no air so pestilential, it has not been breathed ; no
danger so great, it has not been encountered, unap-
palled, by the sons of this College in the performance of
the duty which they felt was pressing upon them. En-
deavoring to make man wiser, purer, better, happier;
pointing to his duty and his destiny; teaching him his
duty first to God, then to his neighbor and his country,
they have been enabled to perform a benevolent part in
the world. A fierce fight is waging between light and
darkness, truth and error; and this institution is pre-
paring champions for the conflict. Education alone
will not do it ; you may enlighten the intellect, but unless
you reach the heart the labor is in vain. Our province
is, not only to inculcate knowledge, but those principles,
the application of which banishes implements of cruelty,
arrests the progress of superstition, cools passion, ex-
tinguishes vice and misery, and saves from national
degradation and ruin."
Following a "Centennial Ode of Welcome," from the
pen of Alfred H. Fahnestock ('68), sung by the com-
pany to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," the best of
whose seven pitiful stanzas was,
182 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
"Why meet we here with song and cheer,
A Cliosophic band?
Because we still in heart and will
Indissoluble stand;
And though the years bring joy and tears,
Joy speaks but Grief is dumb;
And Hope's fair hand our sky has spanned
For all the years to come,"
Ex-Chancellor Oliver Spencer Halstead, who had grad-
uated fifty-five years before, when the Society was only
forty-five years old, spoke to the toast, "The Cliosophic
Society," confining himself to reminiscences of the Clios
of his class, especially George M. Dallas, Vice-President
in the time of Polk.
The great scientist, Joseph Henry, an honorary mem-
ber of Whig Hall, spoke next for the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, recalling his life as professor at Princeton. "I
was not so fortunate," he said, "as to be one of Prince-
ton's sons. I am an adopted son, however. She received
me kindly, took me into her bosom, nurtured me; and
I can say that during the sixteen years that I resided
here, I felt myself constantly growing, constantly de-
veloping, from the air of this venerated institution,
which was redolent of great thoughts."
Dr. Jonathan Edwards, President of Hanover Col-
lege, responded to the toast, "All the other Literary
Societies of the Land and all the Literary Institutions
of the Country." His climax was : "No other one in-
stitution possesses the hold and power of a college. In
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 183
the college, no one agency exerts more moulding power
than the literary societies. The mental attrition, the
compression, the spur, — all the other influences that put
on or take off, or develop character and modify temper
and cement relationships are found in the society halls
as they are found nowhere else. On behalf of the West,
I tender homage to this Society, magna mater mrorum.
A hundred years have added to her benignity; may a
hundred more find her in the dignity and bloom of her
youth!" (So say we, all of us !)
There followed brief speeches by Professor Lyman H.
Atwater, speaking as an alumnus of Yale, and by James
M. McDonald, pastor of the First Church, and Pro-
fessor Stephen Alexander, speaking as alumni of Union
College, all emphasizing the value of the training af-
forded by college literary societies ; by Dr. Kirk, the ora-
tor of the morning, by the Hon. Robert McKnight ('69),
by A. O. Zabriskie ('^5), and by Dr. George M. Maclean
('^4). The celebration was brought to a close by Dr.
Elijah R. Craven ('42), pronouncing a benediction.
It is worthy of note that at the annual meeting of
this centennial year a handsome Bible was presented to
the Society. From that time on it became customary
to open the meetings of the Hall with reading from the
Scriptures as well as with prayer. The opening with
prayer had been introduced fifty years earlier.
As the sesquicentennial birthday of the Society drew
184 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
near, preparations began to be made for its proper ob-
servance. A large committee to have the matter in
charge was constituted, of which Dean Andrew Fleming
West ('74) was made Chairman, as follows: — Faculty
Members: Dean W. F. Magie ('79), Dean H. B. Fine
('80), General A. A. WoodhuU ('56), Professors T. W.
Hunt ('65), William Libbey ('77), H. D. Thompson
('85), G. B. McClellan ('86), E. Y. Bobbins ('89), V.
L. Collins ('92), H. V. Covington ('92), and W. K.
Prentice ('92); Graduate Members: S. J. McPherson
('74), Charles R. Williams ('75), Bayard Henry ('76),
M. Allen Starr ('76), John A. Campbell ('77), C. C.
Black ('78), H. G. DufBeld ('81), Robert S. Yard
('83), J. W. Bayard ('85), Charles W. McAlpine ('88),
W. C. Robinson ('88), F. S. Katzenbach, Jr. ('89),
Alvin C. McCord ('89), F. V. Pitney ('90), Henry W.
Green ('91), Knox Taylor ('95), F. F. Hopper ('00),
W. E. Hope ('01), A. E. Vondermuhll ('01), A. J.
Barron ('02), M. Struthers Burt ('04), C. H. Gamble
('05), N. Ewing, Jr. ('09), Jesse Herrman ('10),
Theodore Janeway ('10), C. C. Savage, Jr. ('11), C.
C. Belknap ('12), Wm. M. Chester ('13), Roger W.
Straus ('13), and Julius O. Adler ('14) ; Undergradu-
ate Members: R. Rowland ('15), Chairman, W. S.
Rusk ('16), Secretary, D. W. Carruthers ('15), W. H.
Haines ('15), J. C. Healey ('15), S. M. Robinson
('15), J. McI. Smith ('16), B. B. Atterbury ('16), S.
Oliver Ellsworth, Class cf 1766
[From the miniature by Trumbull, owned by Yale University]
INTERESTS AND INCIDENTS 185
L. Praner ('16), C. S. Tippetts ('16), N. M. Chester
('17), and J. P, Fishburn ('18) ; Honorary Members:
Henry van Dyke ('73), Mahlon Pitney ('79).
The following sub-committees were named: Execu-
tive, with Dean West as chairman ; Finance, Mr. Bayard
Henry, chairman; Exercises, Professor Thompson,
chairman ; History, Professor Collins, chairman. It was
at first suggested that effort be made to have the cele-
bration rival that of the centennial anniversary, with
academic procession to Alexander Hall to listen to a
public oration by a distinguished alumnus, and a ban-
quet and speeches at Procter Hall. But Monday of
commencement week is so filled with class day activities
that such a plan was felt to be impracticable.
It was decided to provide for the publication of a
history of the Society, and to combine the celebration
of the eventful anniversary with the proceedings of the
regular annual meeting. This fell on Monday, June 14,
1915, at quarter past ten in the morning. In prepara-
tion for the occasion the Hall had been tastefully
draped with the pink of the Society and the orange and
black of the University. The President of the Annual
Meeting was James Wilson Bayard C^^)^ ^^^ ^^^ order
of exercises was as follows :
Reading of the Scriptures and Prayer by
The Reverend Dr. George C. Yeisley '70
Reading of the Annual Report by the Junior Historian
Clarence Muir Tappen '16
186 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Presentation of Diplomas to the Grraduating Class
Address by
The Hon. Frank S. Katzenbach, Jr. '89
"The Cliosophic Society, Past and Present"
Old Nassau
The chief commemorative feature of the exercises was
the address. Unfortunately, it was not committed to
manuscript; so it can not be embodied in this volume.
Mr. Katzeribach gave an interesting review of the found-
ing and the progress of the Society, and dwelt with
genuine eloquence on the great names that have adorned
our annals, and on the spirit of sincerity and honest
effort which has animated the Hall's endeavors. The
motto has been more than an empty phrase. It has
expressed the ideal of character, the principle of con-
duct, which through all its vicissitudes the Cliosophic
Society has sought to exemplify and to make controlling
influences in the spiritual and practical lives of her
members.
Those who heard the address felt a fresh glow of satis-
faction that Clio had been their protectress in college
days, increased enthusiasm for our noble motto, and new
hope and confidence that the Society which for one hun-
dred and fifty years has filled so large and worthy a
place in the life and affections of Princeton students
will abide while the University abides in undiminished
vitality and vigor.
CHAPTER VIII
The Sons of Clio
Any undergraduate student in the University, not a
member of Whig Hall, is eligible for admission to Clio
Hall. In the early days of the Society, when the num-
ber of students was small, close scrutiny was made of
the intellectual and moral qualities of candidates for
membership, and young men considered undesirable on
either score were rejected. In the letter from a graduate
of the class of 1802, which Professor Giger gives, we
read : "A young man was allowed a month after enter-
ing College to select [between the two Societies]. . . .
Unlucky was the youth who could not be admitted. He
could never hold a respectable standing. His name,
proposed after a month in the class, lay one week under
consideration; all eyes were of course upon him; his
manners, habits, his standing in his class, and general
conduct were considered; perhaps his classmates were
examined, and he was admitted or rejected, knowing no
more of what was passing than an utter stranger. If
no cause of objection appeared, he was received; but if
any black spot was found, it was a very easy matter to
close the door against him. Fairness and liberality pre-
187
188 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
vailed." If after a young man's admission serious de-
fects in character or deficiencies in scholarship were
discovered or developed, and these were found to be in-
corrigible, he was "separated" from the Society.
The Society of course retains its powers of discipline,
but these have long been exercised without censorious
severity. It is taken for granted that the members will
conduct themselves as gentlemen. The Hall offers its
facilities and opportunities for rhetorical culture and
parliamentary training. It urges all its members to
make the best use of them ; but it does not bother itself
overmuch with the individuals that are lax or negligent.
But, of course, at graduation, now as always, the hall
diploma is conferred only on those who have conscien-
tiously performed a specified minimum of required
exercises.
In its hundred and fifty years of life the Hall has had
on its roster of membership something more than seven
thousand names; a somewhat larger number than its
friend and rival has counted. Of these seven thousand,
five thousand in round numbers had graduated from the
College or University; some seventeen hundred had left
the institution before graduation, and the rest were
undergraduates at the time of the sesquicentennial cele-
bration. While the greater proportion of the members
has been drawn, as might have been expected, from New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, there is no part
THE SONS OF CLIO 189
of the country that has not been represented. Sons of
Clio have come from every State in the Union, with the
possible exception of two or three of the sparsely settled
mountain States of the Far West. They have come also
from Hawaii and Porto Rico; from Canada, Nova
Scotia, Bermuda, Cuba, Santo Domingo, and the West
Indies ; from Brazil and Chili ; from England, Scotland,
Ireland, and Wales; from France, Germany, Switzer-
land, Italy, and Greece; from Turkey, Asia Minor,
Syria, Persia, and Egypt; from India, Ceylon, China,
and Japan. There is no hour of the day when the sun
is not shining upon some land whence votaries of Clio
have sprung or where in after years they have labored
in good causes.
On the establishment of the Princeton Theological
Seminary, the Halls decided to grant a modified form
of membership to a limited number of theological stu-
dents. These are known as "Adopted Graduate Mem-
bers." They are entitled to the privileges of the Hall
building, to the use of the library, etc., but they do not
participate in the management or the literary exercises of
the Society. They are treated in fact like regular grad-
uate members. In later years any post-graduate stu-
dents have been eligible to this sort of membership.
From 1812 to 1915 the Hall elected eight hundred and
fifty (round number) "Adopted Graduates." In this
list are found the names of many men that in their later
190 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
careers filled most important posts in Church and State
and University, and that won for themselves high and
deserved fame.
References have already been made to the fact that
it has also been the custom of the Halls to elect men to
honorary membership. The Societies have felt that the
honor was reciprocal, and the letters of acceptance re-
ceived by Clio, especially in the olden time, indicate that
the writers were duly appreciative of the distinction
conferred on them. All these letters, and their number
is legion, were faithfully transcribed in the minutes, and
the autograph signature appended by the use of paste.
They afford, what Horace Greeley used to call, "mighty
interestin' readin'," reflecting as they do both the epis-
tolary fashions of various periods and the individual
qualities of the writers. Nothing, for instance, could
be more characteristic than the following brief letter of
March 29, 1859, from the famous Henry Ward Beecher :
"I received with pleasure your notification of my election
to an honorary membership of the Cliosophic Society
of the College of New Jersey. You may be assured that
I am not a member of the American Whig Society and
never will be. Indeed, although I now first learn of the
existence of such a society, and of course know nothing
of its members or principles, yet I am prepared to be-
lieve them quite unworthy and much to be contemned!
I trust that thus I shall earn a place in the confidence
of all true Cliosophic men."
THE SONS OF CLIO 191
Members of the Faculty coming from other institu-
tions of learning were always made honorary members
of one Hall or the other. The aim was to keep the
Faculty about evenly divided between the two Halls;
and so the Faculty at times seems to have determined
which Hall should have the privilege of electing a new
professor. Thus, in his speech at the centennial ban-
quet. Professor Joseph Henry declared: "I am not a
member of the Cliosophic Society. I am a Whig. I
wish I could have been a member of both. When I came
here, I believe it was decided in solemn council that I
should become a Whig. I was rather more enamored
with the name Clio, as Whig sounded somewhat political
[He came to Princeton during the time when one of the
two great political parties of the country bore the appel-
lation Whig] ; but my propensities and feelings were for
the Whigs of 1776."
The first honorary member elected by Clio, of whom
we have record or tradition, was the Rev. Jedediah
Chapman. He was a graduate of Yale and an honorary
A.M. of Princeton, of 1765. From 1795 to 1800, he
was a member of the Board of Trustees. He is set down
in our catalogue as having been elected in 1769, but that
is doubtless an error as the Society that year was in a
state of suspended animation. All together, we have the
names of sixteen gentlemen elected to honorary member-
ship before 1800; the most distinguished name among
192 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
them is that of John Maclean, the promising young
Scotch scientist who joined the Faculty in 1795. In
this same period the Whig catalogue shows only one
name, that of the brilliant and romantic Mrs. Annis
Stockton, who is reported to have been honored in 1776.
It was she who endeared herself to our friends by pre-
serving the Whig records during the troublous days
when the British troops were playing havoc with Nassau
Hall. No other lady, as far as the writer knows, has
ever been so honored by either Hall.
Up to the end of its hundred and fiftieth year, Clio
had elected fifteen hundred (round figures) honorary
members. The list contains the names of many of the
most famous men of their times. Among them were
these Presidents of the United States: James Monroe,
John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van
Buren, James K. Polk, James A. Garfield, Chester A.
Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and
William McKinley.
Prominent statesmen and jurists are very numerous.
Among the latter are Bushrod Washington, Roger B.
Taney, William B. Strong, John A. Campbell, Stanley
Matthews, Morrison R. Waite, Roger A. Pryor, Cort-
landt Parker, and Joseph H. Choate; among the for-
mer : Henry Clay, Daniel D. Tompkins, William Wirt,
Lewis Cass, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Edward Everett,
Thomas Ewing, Wm. L. Marcy, Silas Wright, W. H.
THE SONS OF CLIO 193
Seward, Sargent S. Prentiss, John J. Crittenden, Fred-
erick T. Frelinghuysen, Robert J. Walker, Herschel V.
Johnson, Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, Alex. H.
Stephens, Daniel S. Dickinson, L. Q. C. Lamar, Thad-
deus Stevens, Wm. L. Yancey, Schuyler Colfax, Willard
Saulsbury, Thomas A. Hendricks, John A. Dix, Chaun-
cey M. Depew, Wm. B. Allison, Henry C. Lodge, Levi
P. Morton, Thomas B. Reed, George F. Edmunds, Wm.
E. Russell, George F. Hoar, John Hay, Arthur J. Bal-
four, James Bryce, and Joseph Chamberlain.
College Presidents and professors make a long list of
names. Only some of those of greatest distinction and
achievement can be specified : Eliphalet Nott, Jeremiah
Day, John Torrey, Charles Anthon, Benj. Silliman,
Francis Lieber, E. A. Sophocles, C. C. Felton, Simeon
North, Francis Wayland, Louis Agassiz, Daniel Kirk-
wood, Arnold Guyot, Scheie De Vere, Wm. A. Packard,
Wm. D. Whitney, Homer B. Sprague, Charles A.
Young, Mark Bailey, Cyrus F. Brackett, Francis L.
Patton, Simon Newcomb, Martin B. Anderson, James
B. Angell, Timothy W. Dwight, Chas. W. Waldstein,
W. G. Sumner, Bliss Perry, Lord Kelvin, Henry Calder-
wood, August Domer, and Henry Drummond.
So, too, we count a host of authors among our honor-
ary members. This includes: Washington Irving,
William CuUen Bryant, Wm. Gilmore Simms, Jared
Sparks, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John W. Draper, Don-
194 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
aid G. Mitchell, John J. Audubon, James Parton, Fitz-
Greene Halleck, Benj. J. Lossing, Richard Grant White,
James T. Fields, John G. Saxe, Paul H. Hayne, John
Bach McMaster, Samuel L. Clemens, Edmund C. Sted-
man, John Fiske, John G. Whittier, Lawrence Hutton,
Robert Grant, Wm. D. Howells, George W. Cable, Booth
Tarkington, Justin McCarthy, Conan Doyle, Andrew
Lang, Hall Caine, Gilbert Parker, A. V. Dicey, Paul
Blouet, Rudolfo Lanciani, and Henry K. Sienkiewicz.
Among the great preachers on our list are : Samuel
Hanson Cox, George W. Doane, Edwin F. Hatfield,
Leonard Bacon, Nathaniel S. Prime, George B. Cheever,
Henry Ward Beecher, John Hall, Richard S. Storrs,
Howard Crosby, Arthur C. Coxe, Chas. Cuthbert Hall,
Thomas S. Hastings, John R. Vincent, Chas. H. Park-
hurst, Alessandro Gavazzi, Chas. H. Spurgeon, Frederic
W. Farrar, Joseph Parker, and John Watson.
Great editors are represented by Charles A. Dana,
Alexander K. McClure, Whitelaw Reid, Murat Hal-
stead, H. W. Grady, St. Clair McKelway, Albert Shaw,
H. C. Trumbull, and Lyman Abbott.
Great capitalists and philanthropists, by Thomas
Biddle, James Lenox, A. T. Stewart, Alex. Stuart,
Wm. E. Dodge, John C. Green, John I. Blair, Cyrus
W. Field, Wm. Libbey, J. Ackerman Coles, George
Westinghouse, Andrew Carnegie, and J. Pierpont
Morgan.
THE SONS OF CLIO 195
A very few of the other distinguished names on our
list are: Samuel B. Morse, Charles Lucien Bonaparte,
M. F. Maury, George H. Thomas, Edwin Booth, Henry
M. Stanley, Thomas Nast, Joseph Jefferson, R. L.
Peary, John R. Mott, and Henry Irving.
The election to honorary membership of such men,
and they are fairly representative of the great majority
on our list, undoubtedly reflects the intellectual taste
and interest of the Hall in various epochs of its career.
The Society has shown itself to be wide and catholic
in its sympathies.
But much as we are pleased in contemplating the dis-
tinctions of our honorary members, our chief pride and
glory are in the lives and achievements of the men who
have been active members of the Hall, who have partici-
pated in its endeavors and been under the influence of its
discipline. The more intimately we study the wide
diversity and significance of their accomplishment, the
greater will be our pride ; the more assured we shall feel
in glorying that we belong to the brotherhood of Clio.
It is quite impossible within the limits of a single chapter
to give anything like an exhaustive presentation of the
facts which such a study discloses. The most that can
be attempted is a cursory review with certain rapid
generalizations.
It is not too much to say that a fairly accurate and
satisfactory political history of the United States, from
196 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
the close of the Revolutionary War down to the begin-
ning of the present century, could be written from the
biographies of sons of Clio. For the earliest period,
abundant material would be found in the manifold public
activities and associations of William Paterson (1763),
Oliver Ellsworth {'66), Luther Martin ('66), Jonathan
Dickinson Sergeant ('6^), Pierpont Edwards ('68), and
Frederick Frelinghuysen ('70); not to mention other
names. The first three, as was shown in our first chap-
ter, helped to make the Constitution and played impor-
tant parts in public life later. The last three were in
the national councils before the Constitution was
formed; and the last named also in the Senate of the
United States while Washington was President.
In this same period, but living to a later time, Aaron
Burr ('72) came into national prominence, first as a
Senator from New York and then as Vice-President dur-
ing Jefferson's first term. How much of the political
history of years is revealed by his brilliant, deplorable,
pitiable career! In this period, too, Jonathan Dayton
('76), of New Jersey, served several terms in Congress,
being twice elected Speaker, and later was chosen to the
Senate, and Henry Lee ('73), "Light-Horse Harry," of
Virginia, was in Congress, both contributing their share
to the political history of the time. In 1799 that bril-
liant, erratic, caustic Virginian, John Randolph of
Roanoke, who was admitted into the Cliosophic Society
THE SONS OF CLIO 197
in 1787, began his career in Congress. For more than
thirty years he was a vigorous and often disturbing
force in our national politics. Study his life and you
are brought into intimate relations with the political
controversies and policies, the influential men and the
decisive measures, of that period of American history.
More distinguished for solid attainment was the pub-
lic career of Richard Rush ('97), of Pennsylvania. He
was Attorney-General in Madison's Cabinet from 1814
to 1817, when he was sent by Monroe to England as
Minister Plenipotentiary. He remained in that capacity
for eight years, negotiating several important treaties.
He was Secretary of the Treasury under John Quincy
Adams and in 1828 was candidate, with Adams, for
Vice-President. In 1836 he was sent to England by
Jackson as special agent, and in 1847, by Polk as Min-
ister to France, where he was the first foreign minister
to recognize the republic of 1848.
For more than twenty years from 1821, Samuel L.
Southard (1804), of New Jersey, was in the thick of
affairs — as Senator, as Secretary of War in the Cab-
inets of Monroe and John Quincy Adams, and, after
being Governor of New Jersey, as Senator again ; dying
in 1842, when he was President of the Senate. In 1829
Theodore Frelinghuysen, also of New Jersey and a
classmate of Southard's, entered the Senate where he
served the Whig cause albly for one term. Not long
198 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
after his retirement he became Chancellor of the Uni-
versity of New York. In 1844 the Whigs nominated
him for Vice-President on the ticket with Henry Clay,
and six years later he assumed the Presidency of Rutgers
College, which he honored with years of service.
During the same time George Mifflin Dallas (1810),
of Pennsylvania, was rising to conspicuous eminence.
He became a Senator in 18S1 ; was sent as minister to
Russia in 1837; was elected Vice-President with Polk
in 1844 (in 1846 casting the deciding vote for the
famous Walker tariff law of that year) ; was Minister
to England from 1856 to 1861. His political activities
thus cover the storm and stress period immediately pre-
ceding the great civil cataclysm.
Also in this period a figure of great distinction was
John McPherson Berrien (1796). He was bom ne.ar
Princeton but went soon after his graduation to
Georgia. He entered the Senate in 1824, was made
Attorney-General in 1829, and was returned to the
Senate in 1840 where he remained for twelve years,
being one of the leaders in that body. He was one of
the most eloquent speakers of the time and a man of
great political influence. In this period, too, George
W. Crawford ('20), of Georgia, who had been Governor
of his State, was Secretary of War in the Cabinet of
President Taylor; and at its very close, William Pen-
nington ('13), who had several times been elected Gov-
THE SONS OF CLIO 199
emor of New Jersey, was chosen Speaker of the national
House of Representatives after a prolonged and embit-
tered contest.
Overlapping this period was the career of William L.
Dayton ('^5), of New Jersey. He was a Senator from
1842 to 1851 ; was the candidate of the new Republican
party for Vice-President with John C. Fremont in 1856,
and was sent by Lincoln in 1861 as Minister to France,
where he died in 1864.
At various times during the period of the Civil War
and Reconstruction, Alexander Hamilton Bailey ('37),
of New York, Charles J. Biddle ('37), of Pennsylvania,
James W. Wall ('38), of New Jersey, Robert McKnight
('39), of Pennsylvania, Thomas L. Jones ('40), of
South Carolina, Francis P. Blair ('41), of Missouri,
and Charles Haight ('57), of New Jersey, served in
the Senate or the House of Representatives. In this
period, too, George M. Robeson ('47), of New Jersey,
was Secretary of the Navy throughout President
Grant's administration. Moreover, during the Civil
War, many sons of Clio fought in the armies of the
North and of the South, most of them as officers, sev-
eral of whom rose to be brigade or division commanders.
And many Clios held important civil offices under the
Confederate regime.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century Clio
was represented in the National Councils by James B.
200 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Everhart ('42), of Pennsylvania, Alfred H. Colquitt
('44), of Georgia, James Monroe Jackson ('45), of
Virginia, George M. Robeson ('47), of New Jersey,
John A. Swope ('47), of Pennsylvania, Christopher A.
Bergen ('63), of New Jersey, R. W. Parker ('67), of
New Jersey, and Mahlon Pitney ('79), of New Jersey,
who is now on the Supreme Bench.
Besides these names that have been singled out for
special mention, a host of other Cliosophians have been
active and influential in the public affairs of the coun-
try. Many have served in Congress in both houses;
have been ministers to foreign lands ; have been judges
of the Federal Courts and district attorneys ; have filled
responsible places in the army and navy and the civil
service; have been Governors and legislators and judges
of their States; have been mayors of important cities,
and leaders in all political, municipal, and social move-
ments in their communities.
Verily, therefore, from adequate lives of these men,
recounting their ofiicial actions and public utterances
and revealing their multifarious relations and corre-
spondence with influential contemporaries, it would be
possible, we say, for the trained historian to write a
reasonably complete history of the political progress and
development of the United States.
More than this, the historian of the progress and
development of the country, during the same long
THE SONS OF CLIO 201
period, in law and medicine, in religion and education,
would find copious information adapted to his purpose
in the lives and achievements of Cliosophians who rose
to leadership in all these causes. At the same time a
very considerable number of Cliosophians have been
making notable contributions to the scholarship and
literature of America. All this will abundantly appear
from a citation of some of the more conspicuous names
under each of these classifications.
Most of the men mentioned above as statesmen wer^
among the great lawyers of their time. On the Supreme
Bench of the United States there have been five Clio-
sophians: Oliver Ellsworth (1766), Chief Justice, and
William Paterson (1763), Henry Brockholst Livingston
(1774), James Moore Wayne (1808), and Mahlon
Pitney (1879), Associate Justices. The list of Clio-
sophians who have been judges of other Federal Courts
and of State courts is far too long to give. It is adorned
with many very distinguished names. But a few of the
great advocates of Clio — even at the risk of making
invidious distinction among the large number — must be
given: Tapping Reeve (1763), of Connecticut, who
established the first law school in America, Morgan
Lewis ('73), of New York, Samuel Bayard ('84), of
New Jersey, Joseph Clay ('84), of Georgia, William
Gaston ('96), of North Carolina, Benjamin C. Howard
(1809), of Maryland, Oliver S. Halstead ('10), of New
W2 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Jersey, Henry W. Green ('20), of New Jersey, Abraham
O. Zabriskie ('25), of New Jersey, William C. Prime
('43), of New York, William J. Magie ('52), of New
Jersey, Alexander T. McGill ('64), of New Jersey,
Adrian H. Joline ('70), of New York, William B.
Hornblower ('71), of New York, John P. Kennedy
Bryan ('73), of South Carolina, James Pennewill ('75),
of Delaware, Bayard Henry ('76), of Pennsylvania,
Walter Lloyd Smith ('77), of New York, and Frank S.
Katzenbach, Jr. ('89), of New Jersey.
Of the very large number of the sons of Clio who
have served in the Christian ministry with distinguished
success, only some of the more notable can be named.
At the head of our list may be placed Jonathan Ed-
wards and Theodore Dirck Romeyn, both of the class
of 1765, who, besides their repute as preachers, had
much to do with the founding of Union College. Then,
also of the earlier day, may be mentioned Nathan
Perkins (1770) of Connecticut, James Hall ('74), of
North Carolina, Gilbert T. Snowden ('83), of New
Jersey, George S. WoodhuU ('90), of New Jersey, and
Henry KoUock ('94), of New Jersey. In the nineteenth
century these may be named: William Meade ('08), of
Virginia, Bishop of Virginia, Charles P. Mcllvaine
('16), of New Jersey, President of Kenyon College and
Bishop of Ohio, Edward N. Kirk ('20), of New York,
Samuel K. Talmage ('20), of New Jersey, President of
THE SONS OF CLIO WS
Oglesthorpe College, Luther H. VanDoren ('31), of
New York, President of Columbian College (Mo.),
Charles S. Dod ('33), of New York, President of West
Tennessee College, Melancthon W. Jacobus ('34), of
New Jersey, professor in the Allegheny Theological
Seminary, Theodore Ledyard Cuyler ('41), of New
York, Elijah R. Craven ('4^), Peter A. Studdiford
('49), of New Jersey, William C. Roberts ('55), Presi-
dent of Lake Forest University, Joseph T. Duryea
C56)y of New York, Alfred H. Kellogg ('59), of
Pennsylvania, James M. Ludlow ('61), of New Jersey,
James Forsyth Riggs ('7S), of Turkey, Henry van
Dyke ('73), Howard Duffield ('73), of New Jersey,
Simon J. McPherson ('74), of New York, John P.
Campbell ('75), of New York, John P. Coyle ('75), of
Pennsylvania, George B. Stewart ('76), of Ohio, Presi-
dent of the Auburn Theological Seminary, Melancthon
W. Jacobus ('77), of Pennsylvania, President of the
Hartford Theological Seminary, Wilton Merle Smith
('77), of New York, Luther D. Wishard ('77), of
Indiana, organizer of the College Young Men's Chris-
tian Association and founder of the Young People's
Missionary movement, Chalmers Martin ('79), of New
Jersey, Caesar Augustus R. Janvier ('80), of India,
and Robert E. Speer ('89), of Pennsylvania, Secretary
of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church.
204 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
Of the hundreds of Cliosophians that have devoted
their lives to the practice and the teaching of medicine
and sanitary science, a few names only of some of those
of greatest repute and accomplishment can be cited.
These include: Isaac Alexander (177^), of South Caro-
lina, William D. McKissack (1802), of New Jersey,
Samuel Colhoun ('04), of Pennsylvania, George Hol-
combe ('95), of New Jersey, Jos. S. Dodd ('13), of
New Jersey, George M. Maclean ('24), of New Jersey,
Samuel H. Pennington ('25), of New Jersey, Richard
D. Arnold ('26), of Georgia, Josiah Simpson ('33), of
New Jersey, Edward Hartshorne ('37), of Pennsyl-
vania, John J. Crane ('40), of Connecticut, Frederick
P. Giger ('41), of Maryland, Robert K. Stone ('42),
of the District of Columbia, Edward Shippen ('45), of
New Jersey, Frank Sorrell ('46), of Georgia, John R.
Everhart ('50), of Pennsylvania, Joseph Jones ('53),
of Georgia, General Alfred A. WoodhuU ('56), of New
Jersey, David Magie ('59), of New York, Woolsey
Johnson ('60), of New York, WiUiam H. King ('62),
of Texas, John D. McGill ('67), of New Jersey, Joseph
C. Guernsey ('70), of Pennsylvania, Mason F. Williams
('71), of New Jersey, James H. Lloyd ('73), of Penn-
sylvania, Richard W. Johnson ('76), of Minnesota,
Moses Allen Starr ('76), of New York, Theodore Pot-
ter ('82), of Indiana, William D. Bell ('85), of Kansas,
Porter R. McMaster ('88), of New York, F. R. Bailey
THE SONS OF CLIO W5
('9^), of New Jersey, and Bertram V. D. Post ('93),
of Syria. All of these men, and others many, attained
marked distinction in their profession; contributing to
its advancement, writing for its journals, teaching in
its colleges, and rendering many and various services
to nation. State, and municipality.
A notable array of Cliosophians have been busy and
influential in educational endeavor. Many of the men
already named as great in law, in the ministry, and in
medicine, gave much of their time and strength to teach-
ing. But a goodly number of Clio's graduates have
devoted their lives to the cause of higher education, of
whom only a few of the more distinguished can be speci-
fied: Philip Lindsley (1804), long professor and vice-
president of Princeton and President of the University
of Nashville; John Maclean ('16), who served Prince-
ton all his life, one of the great figures in the history
of the institution; William P. Finley ('^0), President
of the College of South Carolina; Albert B. Dod ('2^),
one of Princeton's best beloved professors; John S.
Hart ('30), John S. Schanck ('40), John T. Duffield
('41), and George Musgrave Giger ('41), leading pro-
fessors at Princeton; James C. Welling ('44), professor
at Princeton and President later of St. John's College,
Maryland, and of the Columbian University at Wash-
ington; James Morgan Hart ('60), long professor at
Cincinnati and Cornell; Thomas C. Hall ('79), pro-
20& THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
fessor at the Union Theological Seminary; Max Far-
rand ('92), professor at Yale; and Theodore W. Hunt
('65), Henry van Dyke ('73), Samuel Ross Winans
('74), Andrew F. West ('74), William Libbey ('77),
William F. Magie ('79) ; Henry B. Fine ('80), James
Mark Baldwin ('84), H. D. Thompson ('85), Roger
B. C. Johnson ('87), W. A. Wyckoff ('88), H. C. War-
ren ('89), Edmund Y. Bobbins ('89), Fred Neher
('89), J. P. Hoskins ('91), W. U. Vreeland ('92), H.
F. Covington ('92), W. K. Prentice ('92), George A.
Hulett ('92), V. L. Collins ('92), J. B. Carter ('93),
Ulric Dahlgren ('94), L. H. Miller ('97), and David
Magie Jr. ('97), all professors of Princeton.
All together, more than one hundred and fifty gradu-
ates of Clio have at one time or another and for longer
or shorter periods been members of the Faculty of
Princeton. Of course, in addition to this number, there
have been many honorary members of Clio in the Fac-
ulty, some of whom, like John Maclean, senior, W. A.
Packard, Cyrus F. Brackett, and Francis L. Patton,
were most loyal in their support of the Hall. More-
over, something like fifty graduates of Clio have served
on the Board of Trustees of the College or University.
Here, too, it may appropriately be recalled that the
most munificent single benefactor of Princeton was a
Cliosophian, Isaac Chauncey Wyman, of Massachusetts,
who graduated in 1848.
THE SONS OF CLIO 207
Many of the men just named, jurists, divines, physi-
cians, professors, were busy likewise with their pens,
contributing in special articles or public addresses, and
in innumerable books, to the lore and the literature of
their particular departments of intellectual endeavor.
It would be tiresome to specify even the titles of their
countless publications. Nor is it possible to name all
the sons of Clio who have enriched the general litera-
ture of our country. But some few names must be
given: Parke Godwin ('34), George H. Boker ('4S),
William C. Prime ('43), Charles G. Leland ('45),
Adrian H. Joline ('70), Henry van Dyke ('73), Bolton
Hall ('75), W. J. Henderson ('76), Edwin M. Royle
('83), Vance Thompson ('83), James M. Baldwin
('84), W. A. Wyckoff ('88), Max Farrand ('92), and
Latta Griswold ('01).
Of course, it would be preposterous to claim that the
greatness or distinction of these men, and of others not
named, was due to the training and experience they re-
ceived in Clio Hall. The most that can be said is that
this training and experience contributed in a real and
practical way to the development of their powers, to
their facility in giving expression to their thoughts, to
their knowledge of the workings of public assemblies, to
their readiness in dealing with their fellows. It did for
them something that the classroom exercises could not
do; helped them in many ways to find themselves, to
S08 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
test their abilities, to learn to use their knowledge, to
increase their capacity for discussion, and to develop
their skill in meeting new and unexpected points of op-
position or controversy. Letters from graduates, after
they had gained success and distinction in their pro-
fessions or in public life, which are scattered through
the minutes, abound in expressions of obligation to the
Hall for the benefits that it had conferred in intellectual
stimulus and moral influence, in rhetorical training and
parliamentary experience, and in creating and fostering
friendships. Many men, indeed, have felt that what
they had gained from their efforts in Hall was of larger
value to them in after life than their attainment in any
single course of study in College.
The great sons of Clio have not owed their greatness
to Clio any more than they have owed it to their alma
mater. But Clio as well as Alma Mater had her part —
and a worthy part — in their development. They were
stronger men, or sooner became aware of their strength,
because of their training under the discipline of Clio
and because of the experience they had gained in the
clash of mind with mind in the varied exercises of the
Hall. And Clio has a right to be proud of them; to
have the same sort of pride in them that Alma Mater
cherishes. They are part of our history, our heritage,
our possession. They compass us about, a great cloud
of witnesses. Such and such were the Cliosophians of
THE SONS OF CLIO 209
other days, we may proudly boast. They were our
elder brothers. They have left us a splendid tradi-
tion. Their example and achievements should be a spur
to those that follow after along the way where aforetime
their feet found pleasant passage.
And all that Clio has been and has done in the long
years that have elapsed, since the handful of earnest
young men first gathered for debate and literary effort
in that little upper room of Old Nassau, should rein-
force the determination to maintain the Cliosophic
tradition unimpaired and to pass it along to future
generations of students in full vigor and effectiveness.
Methods may change as they have changed in the past;
antiquated forms may yield place to new. But the old
spirit, the old ideals should endure.
Always there will be need of such a forum as the Hall
affords; for rhetorical and elocutionary practice, for
free discussion of the questions, old and new, that in-
terest young men, and, not the least, for the oppor-
tunities it offers for gaining practical familiarity with
parliamentary rules and methods.
The Halls, in all probability, can never be restored
to the commanding place in undergraduate life and
affection that they so long occupied. Princeton is no
longer a college but a great university. Simplicity has
made way for complexity and widening diversity of
interests and aims. Innumerable extra-curriculum
210 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
activities and associations have gradually come into
being and make their demands upon the time and the
attention of the students. Undoubtedly, too, the life
of the clubs, with the intimate relations it fosters among
particular groups of students, tends to weaken the
appeal of the Halls. But the Halls, the most ancient
literary societies in America, offer what no other asso-
ciation of students in the University can offer or at-
tempts to offer. And their place should be secure. The
greatness of their extended history, the solidity and
permanent worth of their achievement, and the im-
portance and practical value of the culture they ex-
emplify and impart, should be a guaranty of their
perpetuity and continuing prosperity.
AFTERWORD
The task laid upon me by the committee is completed,
as well as it has seemed possible for me to complete it.
I am aware that my accomplishment may fall short in
many particulars. The progress and activities of any
human institution during a century and a half present
such a multitude of facts, such a diversity of policies,
such a multiplicity of controversies, so many and so
various points of contact with other interests, that it
is difficult to keep within reasonable limits in tracing
their causes and courses. I have not attempted any-
thing exhaustive — or, I hope, exhausting. What I have
sought to do is to give an accurate (as I trust) sum-
mary of the principal facts of the origin and develop-
ment of the Cliosophic Society, and to present an
interpretation of the spirit which has permeated its
endeavors in different periods of its long life. If I have
not succeeded in this, I have not succeeded at all.
And this has not been an easy task to perform. The
Society has not been careful in the preservation of rec-
ords. Innumerable documents, in manuscript or in
print, reports of committees on the early history of
the Society, letters from early members, transcripts
of laws and regulations, of treaties and conventions,
211
212 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
have disappeared or been cast as rubbish to the void.
One might suppose, at first thought, that all such rec-
ords would have been carefully retained ; and with them
a copy of every catalogue of the hall library, of every
catalogue of members, of every document or pamphlet
printed by the Society, either alone or in conjunction
with the American Whig Society ; and that there should
have been preserved likewise a sample of every form of
the diploma, of every badge and key and medal. But
this has not been done; perhaps, as I have intimated,
could not after all have been expected, because the
membership changes so rapidly and officers exercise
authority for such brief periods.
It has been a wearisome undertaking to read volume
after volume of the minutes of the Society, and yet one
constantly lightened by passages which gave insight
into thoughts and conditions that long ago dropped
out of the minds of youth or ceased entirely to exist.
Often the hand paused before turning the next leaf,
while the imagination was busy in trying to visualize
some ancient meeting of the Hall in the little chamber
of Old Nassau or the upper north room of Stanhope
Hall. A wood fire was crackling on the hearth or roar-
ing in the stove ; candles in sconces or branched candle-
sticks, or "patent lamps" of reeking sperm oil, were
shedding dim light ; the close air of the room was heavy
and somnolent; the chairs and settees were filled with
AFTERWORD 213
young figures in gowns; and a youth, afterward to be
famous in church or State, whose bones have long been
dust, rejoicing in the fictitious name of Themistocles
or Sempronius, was rising to a point of order, or read-
ing from the Spectator^ or declaiming an oration, or
debating the relative merits of Alexander and Caesar
or the tremendously important question whether stu-
dents should cultivate "female" society. Then the curt
and jejune records were aglow with interest and illumi-
nation, and the intense, throbbing life of far-off student
days, with its forgotten rivalries, its "hoaxing" esca-
pades, its eager hopes and ambitions — all, all sunk now
in "Lethe's dreamless ooze" — seemed once more to be
astir in the world.
And when I came down to later years — ah, they too
are now remote! — to my own time in College, I found
myself turning the leaves with ever increasing reluctance
and deliberation, as requickened memory lingered over
the trials and the triumphs of far away hall nights in
which the youth that was I had share. Names that
memory had long let slip again came into consciousness ;
figures that had grown vague and shadowy resumed
their form and force. I seemed to feel once more the
warm touch of vanished hands — pulseless now, dust
now ; to hear once more the sound of voices that I loved
— still now, long, long still. (I think of many as I
write; but most tenderly of all of that rare soul and
214 THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETY
true, long faithful and efBcient in his service to Alma
Mater and to Clio, my dearest college friend and stead-
fast friend of long years that followed, Samuel Ross
Winans ('74), of blessed memory.)
Yes, there was weariness in laboring through the
heavy volumes of the minutes, but relieved at sudden
intervals with melancholy pleasure which was ample
compensation. If out of the records what I have here
gathered together and woven into orderly texture shall
interest my fellow Cliosophians, I shall feel that my
time was not ill spent. My conviction of the value and
importance of the Cliosophic Society, as an instru-
mentality of training and culture for young men in
their university years, has been deepened and strength-
ened by my study of the long record of its activities
and achievement. And what I say of Clio in this re-
spect, I would say likewise of the American Whig
Society. The work of both has been substantially the
same. They have been the two wings of the army of
Old Nassau, both fighting alike under the same banner,
both rejoicing to place above their own colors and motto
the orange and black and the Oranje hoven of Alma
Mater, A classmate of mine, a Whig, has told me that
his father who was of Yale decided to send his sons to
Princeton in preference to his own college, because here
at Princeton the two ancient literary societies were
still active forces in the life of the College. He be-
AFTERWORD 215
lieved the training they gave supplemented the work
of the classroom in a most helpful and desirable way.
And that judgment was sound; justified by long ob-
servation and experience; testified to by innumerable
men that had enjoyed their privileges and rejoiced in
the benefit of their discipline.
I for one cannot doubt that they are still needed,
still have their distinctive place and work to fill and to
do. Let them live on in perpetual youth and vigor,
faithful to the spirit of their long and honorable his-
tory ! And Clio — may she be true always to her tradi-
tion of honest effort; true always to her noble motto,
Prodesse quam Conspici!
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