Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/collectionofcollOOhallrich ■^■^ff^- ,-'>v<**.«iw^^ ^i?/ " 9 o y COLLECTION > • • • • • COLLEGE AND CJJSTOMS. " Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentquo QusBjiunc sunt in honore, vocabula." " Notandi sunt tibi mores." HoR. Ars. Poet. [^ .■s:.^a,i'ri dk. CAMBRIDGE: PUBLISHED BY JOHN BARTLETT. 1851. H-\3 Watered according to Act of C!ongress, in the year 1851, by ; ! ; *^ * ; '. ' ' • > John B a r t l e t t , ihihd dlbrk's OMee of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. U c ambridoe: METCALF AND COMPANY, PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. vH PREFACE. The Editor has an indistinct recollection of a sheet of foolscap paper, on one side of which was written, perhaps a year and a half ago, a list of twenty or thirty coUege phrases, followed by the euphonious titles of " Yale CoU.," " Harvard Coll." Next he calls to mind two blue-covered books, turned from their original use, as receptacles of Latin and Greek exercises, contain- ing explanations of these and many other phrases. His friends heard that he was hunting up odd words and queer customs, and dubbed him " Antiquarian," but in a kindly manner, spared his feelings, and did not put the vinegar " old " before it. Two and one half quires of paper were in time covered with a strange medley, an olla-podrida of stu- dent peculiarities. Thus did he amuse himself in his leisure hours, something like one who, as Dryden says, " is for raking in Chaucer for antiquated words." By and by he heard a wish here and a wish there, whether real or otherwise he does not know, which said some- thing about " type," " press," and used other cabalistic words, such as " copy," " devil," etc. Then there was a gathering of papers, a transcribing of passages from IV PREFACE. letters, an arranging in alphabetical order, a correcting of proofs, and the work was done, — poorly it may be, but with good intent. Some things will be found in the following pages which are neither words nor customs peculiar to col- leges, and yet they have been inserted, because it was thought they would serve to explain the character of student life, and afford a little amusement to the stu- dent himself. Society histories have been omitted, with the exception of an account of the oldest afiiliated literary society in the United States. To those who have aided in the compilation of this work, the editor returns his warmest thanks. He has received the assistance of many, whose names he would here and in all places esteem it an honor openly to acknowledge, were he not forbidden so to do by the fact that he is himself anonymous. Aware that there is information still to be collected, in reference to the sub- jects here treated, he would deem it a favor if he could receive through the medium of his publisher such mor- sels as are yet ungathered. Should one pleasant thought arise within the breast of any Alumnus, as a long-forgotten but once familiar word stares him in the face, like an old and early friend; or should one who is still guarded by his Alma Mater be led to a more summer-like acquaint- ance with those who have in years past roved, as he now roves, through classic shades and honored halls, the labors of their friend, the editor, will have been crowned with complete success. Cambeidqe, July 4th, 1851. COLLECTION OF COLLEGE WORDS AA^D CUSTOMS, A. B. An abbreviation for Artium Baccalaureus, Bachelor of Arts. The first degree taken by students at a college or university. It is sometimes written B. A, Of the various etymologies ascribed to the term Bachelor^ " the true one, and the most flattering," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " seems to be hacca Taurus. Those who either are, or expect to be, honored with the title of Bachelor of Arts, will hear with exultation, that they are then ' con- siderec^ as the budding flowers of the University ; as the small pillula, or hacca, of the laurel indicates the flowering of that tree, which is so generally used in the crowns of those, who have deserved well, both of the military states, and of the republic of learning.' — Carter'^s History of Cambridge [Eng.], 1753." See Bachelor. ABSIT. Latin ; literally, let him he ahsent ; leave of ab- sence from commons, given to a student in the English universities. — Gradus ad Cantah, ACADEMIAN. A member of an academy ; a student in a university or college. 1 » COLLEGE WORDS ACADEMIC. A student in a college or university. A young academic coming into the country immediately after this great competition, &c. — Forhy's Vocabulary, under Pin-bashet. A young academic shall dwell upon a journal that treats of trade, and be lavish in the praise of the author ; while persons skilled in those subjects hear the tattle with contempt. — Watts^s Improve- ment of the Mind. ACADEMICALS. In the English universities, the dress pe- culiar to the students and officers. I must insist on your ^oing to your College and putting on your academicals. —^TJieEto(iian, Vol. IJ. p. 382. 'r yjie Proctor .maXes, a claim of 65. 8<^. on every undergraduate whom he finds inermen, or without his academicals. — Gradus ad C^7A^0^r, p.'8. ' If you say you are going for a walk, or if it appears likely, from the time and place, you are allowed to pass, otherwise you may be sent back to college to put on your academicals. — Collegian's Guide, p. 177. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. At Harvard College, every stu- dent admitted upon examination, after giving a bond for the payment of all College dues, according to the established laws and customs, is required to sign the following acknowl- edgment^ as it is called : — "I acknowledge that, having been admitted to the University at Cambridge, I am subject to its laws." Thereupon he receives from the President a copy of the laws which he has promised to obey. — Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass., 1848, p. 13. ♦ ACT. In English universities, a thesis maintained in public by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. — Webster. The student proposes certain questions to the presiding officer of the schools, who then nominates other students to oppose him. The discussion is syllogistical and in Latin, and terminates by the presiding officer questioning the re- spondent, or person who is said to keep the act, and his opponents, and dismissing them with some remarks upon their respective merits. — Brande. The word was formerly used in Harvard College. In the AND CUSTOMS. " Orders of the Overseers," May 6th, 1650, is the follow- ing : — " Such that expect to proceed Masters of Arts [are .ordered] to exhibit their synopsis of acts required by the laws of the College." — Quincy'^s Hist, Harv. Univ.^YoX, . I. p. 518. Nine Bachelors commenced at Cambridge ; they were young men of good hope, and performed their acts, so as to give good proof of their proficiency in the tongues and arts. — Winthrop^s Journal, hy Mr. Savage, Vol. I. p. 87. The students of the first classis that have beene these foure yeeres trained up in University learning (for their ripening in the knowl- edge of the tongues, and arts) and are approved for their manners, as they have kepi their publick Acts in former yeares, ourselves be- ing present at them ; so have they lately kept two solemn Acts for their Commencement. — New Englandh First Fruits, in Mass, Hist, Coll., Vol. I. p. 245. But in the succeeding acts the Latin syllogism seemed to give the most content. — Harvard Register, 1827-28, p. 305. 2. The close of the session at Oxford, when Masters and Doctors complete their degrees, whence the Act Term^ or that term in which the act falls. It is always held with great solemnity. At Cambridge, and in American colleges, it is called Commencement. In this sense Mather uses it. They that were to proceed Bachelors, held their Act publickly in Cambridge. — Mather's Magnalia, B. 4, pp. 127, 128. At some times in the universities of England they have no pub- lic acts, but give degrees privately and silently. — Letter of Increase Mather, in App. to Pres, Woolsey's Hist. Disc, p. 87. ADJOURN. At Bowdoin College, adjourns are the occa- sional holidays given when a Professor unexpectedly absents himself from recitation. ADMISSION. The act of admitting a person as a member of a college or university. The requirements for admission are usually a good moral character on the part of the can- didate, and that he shall be able to pass a satisfactory exam- ination in certain studies. In some colleges, students are not allowed to enter until they are of a specified age. — Latvs Univ. at Cam.^ Mass.^ 1848, p. 12. Laios Yale Coll.., 1837, p. 8. 4 COLLEGE WORDS The requisitions for entrance at Harvard College in 1650 are given in the following extract. " When any scholar is able to read TuUy, or such like classical Latin author, extempore^ and make and speak true Latin in verse and prose suo {ut aiunt) Marte^ and decline perfectly the para- digms of nouns and verbs in the Greek tongue, then may he be admitted into the College, nor shall any claim admission before such qualifications." — Quincy'^s Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. I. p. 515. ADMITTATUR. Latin; literally, let him he admitted. In the older American colleges, the certificate of admission given to a student upon entering was called an admittatur, from the word with which it began. At Harvard no student was allowed to occupy a room in the College, to receive the instruction there given, or was considered a member thereof, until he had been admitted according to this form. Laws Harv. Coll.^ 1798. Referring to Yale College, President Woolsey remarks on this point : " The earliest known laws of the College belong to the years 1720 and 1726, and are in manuscript ; which is explained by the custom that every Freshman, on his admission, was required to write off a copy of them for himself, to which the admittatur of the officers was subscribed." — Hist. Disc, before Grad, Yale Coll., 1850, p. 45. He travels wearily over in visions the term he is to wait for his initiation into college ways and his admittatur. — Harvard Reg- ister, p. 377. I received my admittatur and returned home, to pass the vacation and procure the college uniform. — New England Magazine, Vol. in. p. 238. It was not till six months of further trial, that we received our admittatur, so called, and became matriculated. — A Tour through College, 1832, p. 13. ADMITTO TE AD GRADUM. I admit you to a degree ; the first words in the formula used in conferring the honors of college. The scholar-dress that once arrayed him, The charm Admitto te ad gradum, AND CUSTOMS. O With touch of parchment can refine, And make the veriest coxcomb shine, Confer the gift of tongues at once. And fill with sense the vacant dunce. Trumbull's Progress of Dulness, ed. 1794, Exeter, p. 12. ADMONISH. In collegiate affairs, to reprove a member of a college for a fault, either publicly or privately ; the first step of college discipline. It is followed by of or against; as, to admonish of a fault committed, or against committing a fault. ADMONITION. Private or public reproof; the first step of college discipline. In Harvard College, both private and public admonition subject the offender to deductions from his rank, and the latter is accompanied in most cases with official notice to his parents or guardian. — See Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass,, 1848, p. 21. Laws Yale Coll, 1837, p. 23. Mr. Flynt, for many years a tutor in Harvard College, thus records an instance of college punishment for stealing poultry: — "November 4th, 1717. Three scholars were publicly admonished for thievery, and one degraded below five in his class, because he had been before publicly ad- monished for card-playing. They were ordered by the President into the middle of the Hall (while two others, concealers of the theft, were ordered to stand up in their places, and spoken to there). The crime they were charged with was first declared, and then laid open as against the law of God and the House, and they were admonished to con- sider the nature and tendency of it, with its aggravations ; and all, with them, were warned to take heed and regulate themselves, so that they might not be in danger of so doing for the future ; and those who consented to the theft were admonished to beware, lest God tear them in pieces, accord- ing to the text. They were then fined, and ordered to make restitution twofold for each theft." — Quincy^s Hist. Harv, Univ., Vol. I. p. 443. ADOPTED SON. Said of a student in reference to the col- lege of which he is or was a member, the college being styled his alma mater. 1* b COLLEGE WORDS There is something in the affection of our Alma Mater which changes the nature of her adopted sons ; and let them come from wherever they may, she soon alters them and makes it evident that they belong to the same brood. — Harvard Register^ p. 377. ADVANCE. The lesson which a student prepares for the first time is called the advance^ in contradistinction to the review. Even to save him from perdition He cannot get " the advance^'* forgets " the review.''^ Childe Harvard, p. 13. ^GROTAL. Latin, ccgrotiis, sick. A certificate of illness. Used in the Univ. of Cam., Eng. A lucky thought ; he will get an ^^ cegrotal,^'' or medical cer- tificate of illness. — Household Words, Vol. II. p. 162. ^GROTAT. Latin; literally, he is sick. In the English universities, a certificate from a doctor or surgeon, to the effect that a student has been prevented by illness from at- tending to his college duties, " though, commonly," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " the real complaint is much more serious ; viz. indisposition of the mind ! cBgrotat animo magis quam corpore." This state is technically called cegritude^ and the person thus affected is said to be ceger. — The Etonian, Vol. II. pp. 386, 387. Mr. John Trumbull well describes this state of indisposi- tion in his Progress of Dulness : — *' Then every book, which ought to please, Stirs up the seeds of dire disease ; Greek spoils his eyes, the print 's so fine, Grown dim with study, and with wine ; Of Tully's Latin much afraid, Each page he calls the doctor's aid ; While geometry, with lines so crooked, Sprains all his wits to overlook it. His sickness puts on every name, Its cause and uses still the same ; 'T is toothache, colic, gout, or stone, With phases various as the moon, But tho' thro' all the body spread, Still makes its cap'tal seat, the head. AND CUSTOMS. 7 In all diseases, 't is expected, The weakest parts be most infected." Ed. 1794, Part I. p. 8. iEGROTAT DEGREE. One who is sick or so indisposed that he cannot attend the Senate-House examination, nor consequently acquire any honor, takes what is termed an ■jEgrotat degree. — Alma Mater, Vol. 11. p. 105. ALMA MATER, pL Almje Matres. Fostering mother; a college or seminary where one is educated. The title was originally given to Oxford and Cambridge, by such as had received their education in either university. It must give pleasure to the alumni of the College to hear of his good name, as he [Benjamin Woodbridge] was the eldest son of our alma mater. — Peirce'^s Hist. Harv. Univ., App., p. 57. I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our Alnm Matres, assented to by sundry of their children. — Terrce-Filius , Oxford, p. 41. ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF. An association composed of the graduates of a particular college. The object of societies of this nature is stated in the following extract from President Hopkins's Address before the Society of A lumni of Willia ms College, Aug. 16, 1843^ " So far as I know, the Society of the Ajum ni of Williams College was the first association of the kind in this country, certainly the first which acted effi- ciently, and called forth literary addresses. It was formed September 5th, 1821, and the preamble to the constitution then adopted was as follows r ' For the promotion of liter- ature and good fellowship among ourselves, and the better to advance the reputation and interests of our Alma Mater, we the subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form our- selves into a Society.' The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank. The first orator elected was the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished Senator of the United States. That appointment was not fulfilled. The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge, now of Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion ; and since that time the annual oration before the Alumni has seldom failed Since this Society was formed, the example COLLEGE WORDS has been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to ex- tend to them all. Last year, for the first time, the voice of an Alumnus orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale ; and one of these associations, I know, sprung directly from ours. It is but three years since a venerable man attended the meeting of our Alumni, one of those that have been so full of interest, and he said he should go directly home and have such an association formed at the Commencement of his Alma Mater, then about to occur. He did so. That association was formed, and the last year the voice of one of the first scholars and jurists in the nation was heard be- fore them. The present year the Alumni of Dartmouth were addressed for the first time, and the doctrine of Prog- ress was illustrated by the distinguished speaker in more senses than one.* Who can tell how great the influence of such associations may become in cherishing kind feeling, in fostering literature, in calling out talent, in leading men to act, not selfishly, but more efficiently for the general cause through particular institutions ? " — Pres. Hopkins's Miscellaneous Essays and Discourses^ pp. 275 - 277. To the same effect also, Mr. Chief Justice Story, who, in his Discourse before the Society of the Alumni of Harvard University, Aug. 23, 1842, says : " We meet to celebrate the first anniversary of the society of all the Alumni of Har- vard. We meet without any distinction of sect or party, or of rank or profession, in church or in state, in literature or in science Our fellowship is designed to be, — as it should be, — of the most liberal and comprehensive char- acter, conceived in the spirit of catholic benevolence, asking no creed but the love of letters, seeking no end but the en- couragement of learning, and imposing no conditions, which may lead to jealousy or ambitious strife. In short, we meet for peace and for union ; to devote one day in the year to academical intercourse and the amenities of scholars." — P-4. An Alumni society was formed at Columbia College in * Hon. Levi Woodbury, whose subject was " Progress." AND CUSTOMS. y the year 1829, and at Rutgers College in 1837. There are also societies of this nature at the College of New Jersey, Princeton ; University of Virginia, Charlottesville ; and at Columbian College, Washington. ALUMNUS, pi. Alumni. Latin, from aZo, to nourish. A pupil ; one educated at a seminary or college is called an * alumnus of that institutioji. A. M. An abbreviation for Artium Magister^ Master of Arts. The second degree given by universities and colleges. In America, this degree is conferred, without examination, on Bachelors of three years' standing. At Harvard, this degree was formerly conferred only upon examination, as will be seen by the following extract. " Every schollar that giveth up in writing a System, or Synopsis, or summe of Logick, naturall and morall Philosophy, Arithmetick, Geometry and Astronomy : And is ready to defend his Theses or posi- tions : Withall skilled in the originalls as above-said ; And of godly life and conversation ; And so approved by the Overseers and Master of the Colledge, at any publique Act, is Ifit to be dignified with his 2d degree." — New England'^s First Fruits^ in Mass. Hist. Coll.^ Vol. L p. 246. Until the year 1792, it was customary for those who ap- plied for the degree of A. M. to defend what were called Masterh questions ; after this time an oration was substi- tuted in place of these, which continued until 1844, when for the first time there were no Master's exercises. The degree is now given to any graduate of three or more years' standing, on the payment of a certain sum of money. The degree is also presented by special vote to individ- uals wholly unconnected with any college, but who are dis- tinguished for their literary attainments. In this case, where the honor is given, no fee is required. ANALYSIS. In the following passage, the word analysis is used as a verb ; the meaning being directly derived from that of the noun of the same orthography. If any resident Bachelor, Senior, or Junior Sophister, shall neg- lect to analysis in his course, he shall be punished not exceeding ten shillings. — Peirce^s Hist, Harv. Univ., App., p. 129. 10 COLLEGE WORDS APOSTLES. At Cambridge, England, the twelve last on the list of Bachelors of Arts ; a degree lower than the ol ttoWoL " Scape-goats of literature, who have at length scrambled through the pales and discipline of the Senate-House, with- out being plucked, and miraculously obtained the title of A. B." — Gradus ad Cantah. At Columbian College, D. C, the members of the Faculty- are called after the names of the Apostles, APPLICANT. A diligent student. " This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, " has been much used at our colleges. The English have the verb to apply, but the noun applicant, in this sense, does not appear to be in use among them. The only dictionary in which I have found it with this meaning is Entick's, in which it is given under the word applier. Mr. Todd has the term applicant, but it is only in the sense of ' he who applies for any thing.' An American reviewer, in his remarks on Mr. Webster's Dic- tionary, takes notice of the word, observing, that it ' is a mean word ' ; and then adds, that ' Mr. Webster has not explained it in the most common sense, a hard student.'' — Monthly Anthology, Vol. VII. p. 263. A correspondent observes : ' The utmost that can be said of this word among the English is, that perhaps it is occasionally used in conversation ; at least, to signify one who asks (or applies) for something.' " At present the word applicant is never used in the sense of a diligent student, the common signifi- cation being that given by Mr. Webster, " One who applies; one who makes request ; a petitioner." APPOINTMENT. In many American colleges, students to whom are assigned a part in the exercises of an exhibition or commencement, are said to receive an appointment. Appointments are given as a reward for superiority in schol- arship. If e'er ye would take an " appointment^^'' young man, Beware o' the ^' blade " and " fine fellow," young man ! Yale Lit, Mag., Vol. XV. p. 210. See Junior Appointments. AND CUSTOMS. ll APPROBATE. To express approbation of; to manifest a liking, or degree of satisfaction. — Webster. The cause of this battle every man did allow and approbate, — Hall, Henry Vll.y Richardson^ s Diet, " This word," says Mr. Pickering, " was formerly much used at our colleges instead of the old English verb approve. The students used to speak of having their performances approbated by the instructors. It is also now in common use with our clergy as a sort of technical term, to denote a person who is licensed to preach ; they would say, such a one is approbated^ that is, licensed to preach. It is also common in New England to say of a person who is licensed by the county courts to sell spirituous liquors, or to keep a public house, that he is approbated ; and the term is adopted in the law of Massachusetts on this subject." The word is obsolete in England, is never used at our colleges, and is very seldom heard in the other senses given above. By the twelfth statute, a student incurs no penalty by declaim- ing or attempting to declaim without having his piece previously approbated. — MS, Note to Laws of Harvard College, 1798. ASSES' BRIDGE. The fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid is called the Asses'* Bridge, or rather " Pons Asino- rum," from the difficulty with which many get over it. The Asses^ Bridge in Euclid is not more difficult to be got over, nor the logarithms of Napier so hard to be unravelled, as many of Hoyle's Cases and Propositions. — The Connoisseur, No. LX. After Mr. Brow^n had passed us over the ^^Asses^ Bridge,^^ without any serious accident, and conducted us a few steps further into the first book, he dismissed us with many compliments. — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 126. I don't believe he passed the Pons Asinorum without many a halt and a stumble. — Ibid,, Vol. I. p. 146. ASSESSOR. In the English universities, an oflicer appointed to assist the Vice-Chancellor in his court. — Cam, Cal, AUCTION. At Harvard College, it was until within a few years customary for the members of the Senior Class, pre- vious to leaving college, to bring together in some conven- 12 COLLEGE WORDS ient room all the books, furniture, and movables of any kind which they wished to dispose of, and put them up at public auction. Every thing offered was either sold, or, if no bid- ders could be obtained, given away. AUDIT. In the University of Cambridge, England, a meet- ing of the Master and Fellows to examine or audit the Col- lege accounts. This is succeeded by a feast, on which occasion is broached the very best ale, for which reason ale of this character is called " audit ale." — Grad. ah Cantab. This use of the word thirst, made me drink an extra bumper of " Audit " that very day at dinner. — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 3. After a few draughts of the Audit, the company disperse. — lUd., Vol. I. p. 161. AUTHORITY. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, " is used in some of the States, in speaking collectively of the Professors, &c., of our colleges, to whom the government of these institutions is intrusted." Every Freshman shall be obliged to do any proper errand or mes- sage for the Authority of the College. — Laws Middlebury Coll, , 1804, p. 6. AUTOGRAPH BOOK. It is customary at Yale College for each member of the Senior Class, before the close of his collegiate life, to obtain, in a book prepared for that purpose, the signatures of the President, Professors, Tutors, and of all his classmates, with any thing else which they may choose to insert. Opposite the autographs of the college officers are placed engravings of them, so far as they are obtainable ; and the whole, bound according to the fancy of each, forms a most valuable collection of agreeable me- mentos. AND CUSTOMS. 13 B. BACCALAUEEATE. The degree of Bachelor of Arts ; the first or lowest degree. In American colleges, this degree is conferred in course on each member of the Senior Class in good standing. In Oxford and Cambridge it is attainable in two different ways ; — 1. By examination, to which those stu- dents alone are admissible who have pursued the prescribed course of study for the space of three years. 2. By extra- ordinary diploma, granted to individuals wholly unconnected with the University. The former class are styled Bac- calaurei Formati, the latter Baccalaurei Currentes. In France, the degree of Baccalaureat (Baccalaureus Litera- rum) is conferred indiscriminately upon such natives or for- eigners as, after a strict examination in the classics, mathe- matics, and philosophy, are declared to be qualified. In the German universities, the title " Doctor Philosophiae " has long been substituted for Baccalaureus Artium or Literarum. In the Middle Ages, the term Baccalaureus was applied to an inferior order of knights, who came into the field unat- tended by vassals ; from them it was transferred to the lowest class of ecclesiastics ; and thence again, by Pope Gregory the Ninth, to the universities. In reference td the derivation of this word, the military classes maintain that it is either derived from the haculus or staff with which knights were usually invested, or from has chevalier^ an inferior kind of knight ; the literary classes, with more plausibility, perhaps, trace its origin to the custom which prevailed uni- versally among the Greeks and Romans, and which was followed even in Italy till the thirteenth century, of crowning distinguished individuals with laurel ; hence the recipient of this honor was styled Baccalaureus, quasi haccis laureis donatus. — Brande's Dictionary, The subjoined passage, although it may not place the subject in any clearer light, will show the difference of opin- ion which exists in reference to the derivation of this word. Speaking of the exercises of Commencement at Cambridge, 2 14 COLLEGE WORDS Mass., in the early days of Harvard College, the writer says : " But the main exercises were disputations upon ques- tions, wherein the respondents first made their Theses : For according to Vossius, the very essence of the Baccalaureat seems to lye in the thing: Baccalaureus being but a name corrupted of Batualius, which Batualius (as well as the French Bataile [Bataille]) comes a Batuendo, a business that carries beating in it : So that, Batualii fuerunt vocati, quia jam quasi hatuissent cum adversario, ac manus conser- uissent ; hoc est, publice disputassent, atque ita peritiae suae specimen dedissent." — Mather'' s Magnalia^ B. IV. p. 128. The Seniors will be examined for the Baccalaureate, four weeks before Commencement, by a committee, in connection with the Faculty. -— Cat, Wesley an Univ., 1849, p. 22. BACHELOR. A person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, at a college or university. This degree, or honor, is called the baccalaureate. This title is given also to such as take the first degree in divinity, law, or physic, in certain European universities. The word appears in various forms in different languages. The fol- lowing are taken from Wehster^s Unabridged Dictionary, " French, baclielier ; Spajiish, bachiller^ a bachelor of arts and a babbler ; Portuguese, bacliarel, id., and bacello^ a shoot or twig of the vine ; Italian, baccelliere^ a bachelor of arts ; bacchio^ a staff; bachetta, a rod; Latin, baculus^ a stick, that is, a shoot ; French, bachelette^ a damsel, or young woman ; Scotch, baich, a child ; Welsh, bacgen, a boy, a child ; bacgenes, a young girl, from Jac, small. This word has its origin in the name of a child, or young person of either sex, whence the sense of babbling in the Spanish. Or both senses are rather from shooting, protruding." BACHELORSHIP. The state of one who has taken his first degree in a university or college. — Webster. BACK-LESSON. A lesson which has not been learned or recited ; a lesson which has been omitted. In a moment you may see the yard covered with hurrying groups, some just released from metaphysics or the blackboard, AND CUSTOMS. 15 and some just arisen from their beds where they have indulged in the luxury of sleeping over, — a luxury, however, which is sadly diminished by the anticipated necessity of making up back-lessons. — Harv. Reg., p. 202. BARBER. Ill the English universities, the college barber is often ennployed by the students to write out or translate the impositions incurred by thenn. Those who by this means get rid of their impositions are said to harberize them. So bad was the hand which poor Jenkinson wrote, that the many impositions which he incurred would have kept him hard at work all day long, so he harberized them, that is, handed them over to the college barber, who had always some poor scholars in his pay. This practice of barberizing is not uncommon among a certain class of men. — Collegian^ s Guides p. 155. BARNEY. At Harvard College, about the year 1810, this word was used to designate a bad recitation. To barney was to recite badly. BATTEL. To stand indebted on the college books at Ox- ford, for provisions and drink from the buttery. Eat my commons with a good stomach, and battled with discre- tion. — Puritan, Malone's Suppl. 2, p. 543. Cotgrave says, " To battle (as scholars do in Oxford) etre debteur au college pour ses vivres." He adds, " Mot use seulement des jeunes ecoliers de I'universite d'Oxford." 2. To reside at the university ; to keep terms. — Webster, BATTEL. Provisions taken by Oxford students from the but- tery, and also the charges thereon. — Webster, I on the nail my Battels paid, The monster turn'd away dismay'd. The Student, Vol. I. p. 115, 1750. BATTELER. ) A student at Oxford who stands indebted, in BATTLER. ) the college books, for provisions and drink at the buttery. — Webster, Halliwell, in his Diet. Arch, and Prov. Words, says, " The term is used in contradistinction to gentleman com- moner." In Gent. Mag. 1787, p. 1146, is the following : — " There was formerly at Oxford an order similar to the sizars of Cambridge, called battelers {batteling having the 16 COLLEGE WORDS same signification as sizing). The sizar and hatteler were as independent as any other members of the college, though of an inferior order, and were under no obligation to wait upon any body." 2. One who keeps terms, or resides at the University. — Webster. BATTELING. At Oxford, the act of taking provisions from the buttery. Batteling has the same signification as Sizing at the University of Cambridge. — Ge7it. Mog., 1787, p. 1146. Batteling in a friencfs name, implies eating and drinking at his expense. When a person's name is crossed in the buttery, i. e. when he is not allowed to take any articles thence, he usually comes into the hall and battels for buttery supplies in a friend's name, " for," says the Collegian's Guide, "every man can 'take out' an extra commons, and some colleges two, at each meal, for a visitor: and thus, un- der the name of a guest, though at your own table, you escape part of the punishment of being crossed." — p. 158. 2. Spending money. The business of the latter was to call us of a morning, to dis- tribute among us our hattlings, or pocket money, &c. — Dickens- s Household Words, Vol. I. p. 188. BAUM. At Hamilton College, to fawn upon ; to flatter ; to court the favor of any one. B. C. L. Abbreviated for Baccalaureus Civilis Legis, Bach- elor in Civil Law. In the University of Oxford, a Bachelor in Civil Law must be an A. M. of three years standing. The exercises necessary to the degree are disputations upon two distinct days before the Professors of the Faculty of Law. This degree is not conferred in America. B. D. An abbreviation for Baccalaureus Divinitatis, Bach- elor in Divinity. In both the English Universities a B. D. must be an A. M. of seven years standing. The exercises necessary to the degree are at Cambridge one act after the fourth year, two opponencies, a clerum, and an English sermon. At Oxford, disputations are enjoined upon two distinct days, before the Professors of the Faculty of Divini- AND CUSTOMS. 17 ty, and a Latin sermon is preached before the Vice-Chan- cellor. The degree of Theologiee Baccalaiireus was con- ferred at Harvard College on Mr. Leverett, afterwards President of that institution, in 1692, and on Mr. William Brattle in the same year, the only instances, it is believed, in which this degree has been given in America. BEADLE. ) An officer in a university, whose chief business BEDEL. ) is to walk with a mace, before the masters, in a public procession ; or, as in America, before the presi- dent, trustees, faculty, and students of a college, in a pro- cession, at public commencements. — Webster, In the English universities there are two classes of Bedels, called the Esquire and the Yeoman Bedel, Of this officer as connected with Yale College, President Woolsey speaks as follows : — " The beadle or his substi- tute, the vice-beadle (for the sheriff of the county came to be invested with the office), was the master of processions, and a sort of gentleman-usher to execute the commands of the President. He was a younger graduate settled at or near the college. There is on record a diploma of Presi- dent Clap's, investing with this office a graduate of three years standing, and conceding to him ' omnia jura privilegia et auctoritates ad Bedelli officium, secundum collegiorum aut universitatum leges et consuetudines usitatas ; spec- tantia.' The office, as is well known, still exists in the English institutions of learning, whence it was transferred first to Harvard and thence to this institution." — Hist, Disc, Aug., 1850, p. 43. In an account of a Commencement at Williams College, Sept. 8, 1795, the order in which the procession was formed was as follows: — "First, the scholars of the academy; second, students of college ; third, the sherifT of the county acting as Bedellus,'^'' &c. — Federal Orrery, Sept. 28, 1795. The Beadle, by order, made the following declaration. — Clap''s Hist, Yale Coll., 1766, p. 56. It shall be the duty of the Faculty to appoint a College Beadle^ who shall direct the procession on Commencement day, and pre- serve order during the exhibitions. — Laws Yale Coll., 1837, p. 43. 2* 18 COLLEGE WORDS BED-MAKER. One whose occupation is to make beds, and, as in colleges and universities, to take care of the students' rooms. Used both in the United States and England. I asked a bed-maher where Mr. 's chambers were. — Gent, Mag., 1795, p. 118. T' other day I caught my bed-maker, a grave old matron, poring very seriously over a folio that lay open upon my table. I ask'd her what she was reading 1 " Lord bless you, master," says she, *' who I reading? " "I never could read in my life, blessed be God; and yet I loves to look into a book too." — The Student, Vol. I. p. 55, 1750. BENE. • Latin, well, A word sometimes attached to a writ- ten college exercise, by the instructor, as a mark of appro- bation. When I look back upon my college life, And think that I one starveling bene got. Harvardiana, Vol. IIL p. 402. BENE DISCESSIT. Latin ; literally, he has departed hon- orably. This phrase is used in the English universities to signify that the student leaves his college to enter another by the express consent and approbation of the Master and Fellows. — Gradus ad Cantab. Mr. Pope being about to remove from Trinity to Emmanuel, by Bene-Discessit, was desirous of taking my rooms. — Alma Mater, Vol. L p. 167. BENEFICIARY. One who receives any thing as a gift, or is maintained by charity. — Blackstone. In American colleges, students who are supported on es- tablished foundations are called beneficiaries. No student who is a college beneficiary shall remain such any longer than he shall continue exemplary for sobriety, diligence, and orderly conduct. — Laws ofi Univ, at Cam., Mass., 1848, p. 19. BEVER. From the Italian bevere^ to drink. An intermedi- ate refreshment between breakfast and dinner. — Morison. At Harvard College, dinner was formerly the only meal which was regularly taken in the hall. Instead of breakfast and supper, the students were allowed to receive a bowl of milk or chocolate, with a piece of bread, from the buttery AND CUSTOMS. 19 hatch, at morning and evening ; this they could eat in the yard, or take to their rooms and eat there. At the appointed hour for levers^ there was a general rush for the buttery, and if the walking happened to be bad, or if it was winter, many ludicrous accidents usually occurred. One perhaps would slip, his bowl would fly this way, and his bread that, while he, prostrate, afforded an excellent stumbling-block to those immediately behind him ; these, falling in their turn, spatter- ing with the milk themselves and all near them, holding per- haps their spoons aloft, the only thing saved from the de- struction, would, after disentangling themselves from the mass of legs, arms, etc., return to the buttery, and order a new bowl, to be charged with the extras at the close of the term. No scholar shall be absent above an hour at morning hever^ half an hour at evening hever, &c. — Quina/^s Hist. Harv, Univ., Vol. I. p. 517. The butler is not bound to stay above half an hour at bevers in the buttery after the tolling of the bell. — Ibid., Vol. I. p. 584. BEVER. To take a small repast between meals. — Wallis. BIBLE CLERK. In the University of. Oxford, the hihle clerks are required to attend the service of the chapel, and to deliver in a list of the absent undergraduates to the offi- cer appointed to enforce the discipline of the institution. Their duties are diflTerent in different colleges. — Oxford Guide, In the University of Cambridge, Eng., " a very ancient scholarship, so called because the student who was promoted to that office was enjoined to read the Bible at meal times." — Gradus ad Cantab, BITCH. At Cambridge, Eng., to take or drink a dish of tea. I followed, and, having " bitched " (that is, taken a dish of tea), arranged my books and boxes. — Alma Mater, Vol. L p. 30. I dined, wined, or bitched with a Medallist or Senior Wrangler. — JW., Vol. II. p. 218. A young man, who performs with great dexterity the honors of the tea-table, is, if complimented at all, said to be " an excellent bitch.^' — Gradus ad Cantab, p. 18. 20 COLfJtGE WORDS B. L. See LL. B. BLACK BOOK. In the English universities, a gloomy vol- ume containing a register of high crimes and misdemeanors. At the University of Gottingen, the expulsion of students is recorded on a blackboard. — Gradus ad Cantab, Sirrah, I '11 have you^put in the black book, rusticated, expelled. — Miller^ s Humors of Oxford, Act II. Sc. I. All had reason to fear that their names were down in the' proc- tor's Wac^ book. — Collegian'' s Guide, p. 277. So irksome and borish did I ever find this early rising, spite of the health it promised, that I was constantly in the black book of the dean. — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 32. BLACK RIDING. At the College of South Carolina, it has until within a few years been customary for the students, disguised and painted black, to ride across the college-yard at midnight, on horseback, with vociferations and the sound of horns. Black riding is recognized by the laws of the college as a very high offence, punishable with expulsion. BLEACH. At Harvard College, he was formerly said to bleach who preferred to be spiritually rather than bodily present at morning prayers. 'T is sweet Commencement parts to reach, But, O ! H is doubly sweet to bleach. Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 123. BLOOD. At some of the Western colleges, this word signi- fies excellent ; as a blood recitation. A student who recites well is said to make a blood. BLOODY. Formerly a college term for daring, rowdy, im- pudent. Arriving at Lord Bibo's study, They thought they 'd be a little bloody ; So, wdth a bold, presumptuous look, An honest pinch of snuff they took. Rebelliad, p. 44. They roar'd and bawl'd, and were so bloody, As to besiege Lord Bibo's study. Ihid.^ p. 76. AND CUSTOilS. 21 BLOW. A merry frolic with drinking ; a spree. A person intoxicated is said to be Mown, and Mr. Halliwell, in his Diet. Arch, and Prov. Words, has llowloll, a drunkard. This word was formerly used by students to designate their frolics and social gatherings ; at present it is not much heard, being supplanted by the more common word spree^ tight, &c. My fellow-students had been engaged at a blow till the stage- horn had summoned them to depart. — Harvard Register, 1827 - 28, p. 172. No soft adagio from the muse of bloivs, E'er roused indignant from serene repose. Ibid.,^. 233. And, if no coming blow his thoughts engage, Lights candle and cigar. Ibid., p. 235. The person who engages in a blow is also called a blow, I could see, in the long vista of the past, the many hardened blows who had rioted here around the festive board. — Collegian, p. 231. BLUE. In several American colleges, students who are very strict in observing the laws, and conscientious in performing their duties, are styled blues. " Our real delvers, midnight students," says a correspondent from Williams College, " are called blue.'''' I would n't carry a novel into chapel to read, — not out of any respect for some people's old-womanish twaddle about the sacred- ness of the place, — but because some of the blues might see you. — Yale Lit, Mag,, Vol. XV. p. 81. Each jolly soul of them save the blues, Were doffing their coats, vests, pants, and shoes. Yale Gallinipper, Nov. 1848. None ever knew a sober " blue,^^ In this " blood crowd " of ours. Yale Tomahawk, Nov. 1849. Lucian called him a blue, and fell back in his chair in a pouting fit. — The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 118. BLUES. The name of a party which formerly existed al Dartmouth College. In The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117, 22 COLfiEGE WORDS 1842, is the following : — " The students here are divided into two parties, — the Roices and the Blues. The Rowes are very liberal in their notions ; the Blues more strict. The Rowes don't pretend to say any thing worse of a fellow than to call him a Blue, and vice versa." See Indigo and Rowes. BOARD. The hoards, or college boards, in the English uni- versities, are long wooden tablets on which the names of the members of each college are inscribed according to senior- ity, generally hung up in the buttery. — Gradus ad Cantab. Webster. Similar to this was the list of students which was formerly kept at Harvard College, and probably at Yale. Judge Wingate, who graduated at the former institution in 1759, writes as follows in reference to this subject : — " The Freshman Class was, in my day at college, usually placed (as it was termed) within six or nine months after their ad- mission. The official notice of this was given by having their names written in a large German text, in a handsome style, and placed in a conspicuous part of the College But- tery, where the names of the four classes of undergraduates were kept suspended until they left College. If a scholar was expelled, his name was taken from its place ; or if he was degraded (^hich was considered the next highest pun- ishment to expulsion) it was moved accordingly." — Feirce'^s Hist. Harv. Univ., p. 311. BOLT. An omission of a recitation or lecture. A corre- spondent from Union College, where this word is used, gives the following account of it: — "In West College, where the Sophomores and Freshmen congregate, when there was a famous orator expected, or any unusual spectacle to be wit-, nessed in the city, we would call a ' class meeting,' to con- sider upon the propriety of asking Professor for a holt. We had our chairman, and the subject being debated was generally decided in favor of the remission. A com- mittee of good steady fellows were selected, who forthwith waited upon the Professor, and after urging the matter, com- AND CUSTOMS. 23 monly returned with the welcome assurance, that we could have a holt from the next recitation." BOLT. At Union College, to be absent from a recitation, on the conditions related under the noun Bolt. Followed by from. At Williams College, the word is applied with a dif- ferent signification. A correspondent writes : " We some- times holt from a recitation before the Professor arrives, and the term most strikingly suggests the derivation, as our movements in the case would somewhat resemble a ' streak of lightning,' a thunder-Z>oZ^" BOLTER. At Union College, one who holts from a recita- tion. 2. A correspondent from the same college says : " If a student is unable to answer a question in the class, and declares himself unprepared, he also is a ' holler.'* " BONFIRE. The making of bonfires, by students, is not an unfrequent occurrence at many of our colleges, and is usu- ally a demonstration of dissatisfaction, or is done merely for the sake of the excitement. It is accounted a high offence, and at Harvard College is prohibited by the following law : — " In case of a bonfire, or unauthorized fireworks or illu- mination, any students crying fire, — sounding an alarm, — leaving their rooms, — shouting or clapping from the win- dows, — going to the fire, or being seen at it, — going into the college yard, — or assembling on account of such bon- fire, — shall be deemed aiding and abetting such disorder, and punished accordingly." — Laivs, 1848, Bonjires. A correspondent from Bowdoin College writes : " Bon- fires occur regularly twice a year ; one on the night preced- ing the annual State Fast, and the other is built by the Freshmen on the night following the yearly examination. A pole some sixty or seventy feet long is raised, around which brush and tar are heaped to a great height. The con- struction of the pile occupies from four to five hours." Not ye, whom midnight cry ne'er urged to run In search of fire, when fire there had been none ; 24 COLLEGE WORDS Unless, perchance, some pump or hay-mound threw Its bonfire lustre o'er a jolly crew. Harvard Register, p. 233. BOOK-KEEPER. At Harvard College, students are allowed to go out of town on Saturday, after the exercises, but are required, if not at evening prayers, to enter their names be- fore 10, P. M., with one of the officers appointed for that purpose. Students were formerly required to report them- selves before 8, P. M., in winter, and 9, in summer, and the person who registered the names was a member of the Freshman Class, and was called the hook-keeper, I strode over the bridge, with a rapidity which grew with my vexation, my distaste for wind, cold, and wet, and my anxiety to reach my goal ere the appointed hour should expire, and the book- keeper's light should disappear from his window ; ** For while his light holds out to burn. The vilest sinner may return." — Collegian, p. 225. See College Feeshman. BOOTLICK. To fawn upon ; to court favor. Scorns the acquaintance of those he deems beneath him ; refuses to bootlick men for their votes. — The Parthenon, Union Coll., Vol. I. p. 6. The ** Wooden Spoon " exhibition passed off without any such hubbub, except where the pieces were of such a character as to offend the delicacy and modesty of some of those crouching, fawn- ing, bootlicking hypocrites. — The Gallinipper, Dec, 1849. BOOTLICKER. A student who seeks or gains favor from a teacher by flattery or officious civilities ; one who curries favor. A correspondent from Union College writes : " As you watch the students more closely, you will perhaps find some of them particularly officious towards your teacher, and very apt to linger after recitation to get a clearer knowl- edge of some passage. They are Bootlicks, and that is known as Bootlicking ; a reproach, I am sorry to say, too indiscriminately applied." At Yale, and other colleges^ a tutor or any other officer who informs against the students, or acts as a spy upon their conduct, is also called a loot- lick. AND CUSTOBIS. 25 Three or four bootlickers rise. — Yale Banger, Oct., 1848. The rites of Wooden Spoons we next recite, When bootlick hypocrites upraised their might. Ibid,, Nov., 1849. Then he arose, and offered himself as a " bootlick "to the Faculty. — Yale Battery, Feb. 14, 1850. BOOTS. At the College of South Carolina it is customary to present the most unpopular member of a class with a pair of handsome red-topped boots, on which is inscribed the word Beauty. They were formerly given to the ugliest person, whence the inscription. BOS. At the University of Virginia, the desserts which the students, according to the statutes of college, are allowed twice per week, are respectively called the Senior and Junior Bos. BRACKETS. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., at the close of the course, and before the examination is concluded, there is made out a new arrangement of the classes called the Brackets. These, in which each is placed according to merit, are hung upon the pillars in the Senate-House. — Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 93. BRANDER. In the German universities a name given to a student during his second term. Meanwhile large tufts and strips of paper had been twisted into* the hair of the Branders, as those are called who have been already one term at the University, and then at a given signal were set on fire, and the Branders rode round the table on chairs, amid roars of laughter. — Longfellow'' s Hyperion, p. 114. See Burnt Fox. BRICK. A gay, wild, thoughtless fellow, but not so hard as the word itself might seem to imply. He is a queer fellow, — not so bad as he seems, — his own ene- my, but a regular brick. — Collegian^s Guide, p. 143. BRICK MILL. At the University of Vermont, the students speak of the college as the Brick Mill, or the Old Brick Mill. BULL. At Dartmouth College, to recite badly ; to make a 3 26 COLLEGE WORDS poor recitation. From the substantive lull^ a blunder or contradiction, or from the use of the word as a prefix, signi- fying large, lubberly, blundering. BULL-DOG. In the English universities, the servant of a proctor is thus designated. The proctors, through their attendants, commonly called hull- dogs^ received much certain information, &c. — Collegian's Guide, p. 170. BULLYISM. The following account of huUyism at Yale Col- lege, is taken from an entertaining little work, entitled Sketches of Yale College. " Bullyism had its origin, like every thing else that is venerated, far back in antiquity ; no one pretends to know the era of its commencement, nor to say with certainty what was the cause of its establishment, or the original design of the institution. We can only learn from dim and doubtful tradition, that many years ago, no one knows how many, there was a feud between students and townsmen : a sort of general ill-feeling, which manifested itself in the lower classes of society in rudeness and insult. Not patiently borne with, it grew worse and worse, until a regular organization became necessary for defence against the nightly assaults of a gang of drunken rowdies. Nor were their opponents disposed to quit the unequal fight. An organization in opposition followed, and a band of tipsy townsmen, headed by some hardy tars, took the field, were met, no one knows whether in ofl^ence or defence, and after a fight repulsed, and a huge knotty club wrested from their leader. This trophy of personal courage was preserved, the organization perpetuated, and the Bully Club was every year, with procession and set form of speech, bestowed upon , the newly acknowledged leader. But in process of time the organization has assumed a different character : there was no longer need of a system of defence, — the "Bully" was still acknowledged as class leader. He marshalled all pro- cessions, was moderator of all meetings, and performed the various duties of a chief. The title became now a matter of dispute ; it sounded harsh and rude to ears polite, and a AND CUSTOMS. 27 Strong party proposed a change : but the supporters of an- tiquity pleaded the venerable character of the customs identi- fied almost with the College itself Thus the classes were divided, a part electing a marshal, class leader, or moderator, and a part still choosing a lully and minor lully — the lat- ter usually the least of their number — from each class, and still bestowing on them the wonted clubs, mounted with gold, the badges of their office. " Unimportant as these distinctions seem, they formed the ground of constant controversy, each party claiming for its leader the precedence, until the dissensions ended in a scene of confusion too well known to need detail : the usual pro- cession on Commencement day was broken up, and the partisans fell upon each other pell-mell ; scarce heeding, in their hot fray, the orders of the Faculty, the threats of the constables, or even the rebuke of the chief magistrate of the State ; the alumni were left to find their seats in church as they best could, the aged and beloved President following in sorrow, unescorted, to perform the duties of the day. It need not be told that the disputes were judicially ended by a peremptory ordinance, prohibiting all class organizations of any name whatever." BURIAL OF EUCLID. " The custom of bestowing burial honors upon the ashes of Euclid with becoming demonstra- tions of respect has been handed down," says the author of the Sketches of Yale College, " from time immemorial." The account proceeds as follows : — " This book, the terror of the dilatory and unapt, having at length been completely mastered, the class, as their acquaintance with the Greek mathematician is about to close, assemble in their respective places of meeting, and prepare (secretly for fear of the Fac- ulty) for the anniversary. The necessary committee having been appointed, and the regular preparations ordered, a ceremony has sometimes taken place like the following. The huge poker is heated in the old stove and driven through the smoking volume, and the division, marshalled in line, for once at least see through the whole affair. They then march over it in solemn procession, and are enabled, as they step 28 COLLEGE WORDS firmly on its covers, to assert with truth that they have gone over it, — poor jokes indeed, but sufficient to afford abundant laughter. And then follow speeches, comical and pathetic, and shouting and merriment. The night assigned having arrived, how carefully they assemble, all silent, at the place appointed. Laid on its bier, covered with sable pall, and borne in solemn state, the corpse (i. e. the book) is carried with slow procession, with the moaning music of flutes and fifes, the screaming of fiddles, and the thumping and mum- bling of a cracked drum, to the opened grave or the funeral pyre. A gleaming line of blazing torches and twinkling lanterns wave along the quiet streets and through the opened fields, and the snow creaks hoarsely under the tread of a hundred men. They reach the scene, and a circle forms around the consecrated spot ; if the ceremony is a burial, the defunct is laid all carefully in his grave, and then his friends celebrate in prose or verse his memory, his virtues, and his untimely end : and three oboli are tossed into his tomb to satisfy the surly boatman of the Styx. Lingeringly is the last look taken of the familiar countenance, as the procession passes slowly around the tomb ; and the moaning is made — a sound of groans going up to the seventh heavens — and the earth is thrown in, and the headstone with epitaph placed duly to hallow the grave of the dead. Or if, according to the custom of his native land, the body of Euclid is com- mitted to the funeral flames, the pyre, duly prepared with combustibles, is made the centre of the ring ; a ponderous jar of turpentine or whiskey is the fragrant incense, and as the lighted fire mounts up in the still night, and the alarm in the city sounds dim in the distance, the eulogium is spoken, and the memory of the illustrious dead honored ; the urn receives the sacred ashes, which, borne in solemn proces- sion, are placed on some conspicuous situation, or solemnly deposited in some fitting sarcophagus. So the sport ends ; a song, a loud hurrah, and the last jovial roysterer seeks short and profound slumber." — pp. 166- 169. The above was written in the year 1843. That the inter- est in the observance of this custom at Yale College has not AND CUSTOMS. 29 since that time diminished, may be inferred from the follow- ing account of the exercises of the Sophomore Class of 1850, on parting company with their old mathematical friend, given by a correspondent of the New York Trib- une. "Arrangements having been well matured, notice was secretly given out on Wednesday last that the obsequies would be celebrated that evening at 'Barney's Hall,' on Church Street. An excellent band of music was engaged for the occasion, and an efficient Force Committee assigned to their duty, who performed their office with great credit, taking singular care that no ' tutor ' or ' spy ' should secure an entrance to the hall. The ' countersign' selected was 'Leus,' and fortunately was not betrayed. The hall being full at half past ten, the doors were closed, and the exercises com- menced with music. Then followed numerous pieces of various character, and among them an Oration^ a Poem^ Funeral Sermon (of a very metaphysical character), a Dirge^ and, at the grave, a Prayer to Pluto. These pieces all exhibited taste and labor, and were acknowledged to be of a higher tone than that of any productions which have ever been delivered on a similar occasion. Besides these, there were several songs interspersed throughout the Pro- gramme, in both Latin and English, which were sung with great jollity and effect. The band added greatly to the character of the performances, by their frequent and appro- priate pieces. A large coffin was placed before the altar, within which lay the veritable Euclid, arranged in a becom- ing winding-sheet, the body being composed of combustibles, and these thoroughly saturated with turpentine. The com- pany left the hall at half past twelve, formed in an orderly procession, preceded by the band, and bearing the coffin in their midst. Those who composed the procession were arrayed in disguises, to avoid detection, and bore a full com- plement of brilliant torches. The skeleton of Euclid (a faithful caricature), himself bearing a torch, might have been seen dancing in the midst, to the great amusement of all beholders. They marched up Chapel Street as far as 3* 30 COLLEGE WORDS the south end of the Colleges, where they were saluted with three hearty cheers by their fellow-students, and then con- tinued through College Street in front of the whole College square, at the north extremity of which they were again greeted by cheers, and thence followed a circuitous way to quasi Potter's Field, about a mile from the city, where the concluding ceremonies were performed. These consist of walking over the coffin, thus surmounting the difficMlties of the author ; boring a hole through a copy of Euclid with a hot iron, that the class may see through it ; and finally burning it upon the funeral pyre, in order to throw light upon the subject. After these exercises, the procession returned, with music, to the State-House, where they dis- banded, and returned to their desolate habitations. The affair surpassed any thing of the kind that has ever taken place here, and nothing was wanting to render it a complete performance. It testifies to the spirit and character of the class of '53." — Literary World, Nov. 23, 1850, from the Neiu York Tribune. In the Sketches of Williams College, printed in the year 1847, is a description of the manner in which the funeral ex- ercises of Euclid are sometimes conducted in that institution. It is as follows : — "The burial took place last night. The class assembled in the recitation-room in full numbers, at 9 o'clock. The deceased, much emaciated, and in a torn and tattered dress, was stretched on a black table in the centre of the room. This table, by the way, was formed of the old blackboard, which, like a mirror, had so often re- flected the image of old Euclid. In the body of the corpse was a triangular hole, made for the post mortem examina- tion, a report of which was read. Through this hole, those who wished were allowed to look ; and then, placing the body on their heads, they could say with truth that they had for once seen through and understood Euclid. " A eulogy was then pronounced, followed by an oration and the reading of the epitaph, after which the class formed a procession, and marched with slow and solemn tread to the place of burial. The spot selected was in the woods AND CUSTOMS. 31 half a mile south of the Colleges. As we approached the place, we saw a bright fire burning on the altar of turf, and torches gleaming through the dark pines. All was still, save the occasional sympathetic groans of some forlorn bull-frogs which came up like minute-guns from the marsh below. " When we arrived at the spot, the sexton received the body. This dignitary presented rather a grotesque appear- ance. He wore a white robe bound around his waist with a black scarf, and on his head a black, conical-shaped hat, some three feet high. Having fastened the remains to the extremity of a long, black wand, he held them in the fire of the altar until they were nearly consumed, and then laid the charred mass in the urn, muttering an incantation in Latin. The urn being buried deep in the ground, we formed a ring around the grave, and sung the dirge. Then, light- ing our torches by the dying fire, we retraced our steps with feelings suited to the occasion." — pp. 74-76. BURNING OF CONVIVIUM. Convivium is a Greek book which is studied at Hamilton College during the last term of the Freshman year, and is considered somewhat difficult. Upon entering Sophomore it is customary to burn it, with exercises appropriate to the occasion. The time being ap- pointed, the class hold a meeting and elect the marshals of the night. A large pyre is built during the evening of rails and pine w^ood, on the middle of which is placed a barrel of tar, surrounded by straw saturated with turpentine. Notice is then given to the upper classes that Convivium will be burnt that night at twelve o'clock. Their company is re- quested at the exercises, which consist of two poems, a trag- edy, and a funeral oration. A coffin is laid out with the " remains " of the book, and the literary exercises are per- formed. These concluded, the class form a procession, preceded by a brass band playing a dirge, and march to the pyre, around which, with uncovered heads, they solemnly form. The four bearers wuh their torches then advance silently, and place the coffin upon the funeral pile. The class, each member bearing a torch, form a circle around the pyre. At a given signal they all bend forward together, tW COLLEGE WORDS and touch their torches to the heap of combustibles. In an instant " a lurid flame arises, licks around the coffin, and shakes its tongue to heaven." To these ceremonies suc- ceed festivities, vi^hich are usually continued until daylight. Burning of Zump^s Latin Grammar, The funeral rites over the body of this book are performed by the students in the University of New York. The place of burning and burial is usually at Hoboken. Scenes of this nature often occur in American colleges, having their origin, it is supposed, in the custom at Yale of burying Euclid. BURNT FOX. A student during his second half-year, in the German universities, is called a burnt fox. BURSAE, pL BuRSARii. A treasurer or cash-keeper ; as, the bursar of a college or of a monastery. The said College in Cambridge shall be a corporation consisting of seven persons, to wit, a President, five Fellows, and a Treasurer or Bursar. — Peirce^s Hist, Harv, Univ., App., p. 11. Every student is required on his arrival, at the commencement of each session, to deliver to the Bursar the moneys and drafts for money which he has brought with him. It is the duty of the Bursar to attend to the settlement of the demands for board, &c. ; , to pay into the hands of the student such sums as are required for other necessary expenses, and to render a statement of the same to the parent or guardian at the close of the session. — Catalogue of Univ. of North Carolina, 1848-49, p. 27. 2. A student to whom a stipend is paid out of a burse or fund appropriated for that purpose, as the exhibitioners sent to the universities in Scotland, by each presbytery. — Webster, See a full account in Brande^s Diet. Science^ Lit.^ and Art, BURSARY. The treasury of a college or monastery. — Webster, 2, In Scotland, an exhibition. — Encyc, BURSCH (bursh), pi, Burschen. German. A youth ; espe- cially a student in a German university. llnb (jat ^er 35 u r f c^ tein (5tU> im 95eute(, (So )^iimpt tx tie 9>t;Uif^^t^ <^n, AND CUSTOMS. 33 tint) Unit ; eef i^ bcc^ Zlk^ dte( Q3om SD u r f (I; e n bi^ jum SSettetmatt. CrambambuU Song, Student life ! Burschen life ! What a magic sound have these words for him who has learnt for himself their real meaning. — HowiWs Student Life of Germany, BURSCHENSCHAFT. A league or secret association of students, formed in 1815, for the purpose, as was asserted, of the political regeneration of Germany, and suppressed, at least in name, by the exertions of the government. — Brande, " The Burschenschaft," says the Yale Literary Magazine, " was a society formed in opposition to the vices and follies of the Landsmannschaft, with the motto, 'God, Honor, Freedom, Fatherland.' Its object was ' to develop and per- fect every mental and bodily power for the service of the Fatherland.' It exerted a mighty and salutary influence; was almost supreme in its power, but was finally suppressed by the government, on account of its alleged dangerous po- litical tendencies." — Vol. XV. p. 3. BURSE. In France, a fund or foundation for the mainte- nance of poor scholars in their studies. In the Middle Ages, it signified a little college, or a hall in a university. — Weh- ster, BURST. To fail in reciting ; to make a bad recitation. This word is used in some of the Southern colleges. "^ BURT. At Union College, a privy is called the Burt ; the derivation is uncertain. BUSY. An answer often given by a student, when he does not wish to see visitors. Poor Croak was almost annihilated by this summons, and, cling- ing to the' bed-clothes in all the agony of despair, forgot to busy his midnight visitor. — Harv. Reg. , p. 84. Whenever, during that sacred season, a knock salutes my door, I respond with a busy. — Collegian, p. 25. BUTLER. Anciently written Botiler. A servant or offi- cer whose principal business is to take charge of the liquors, food, plate, &ic. In the old laws of Harvard College we 34 COLLEGE WORDS find an enumeration of the duties of the college butler. Some of them were as follows. He was to keep the rooms and utensils belonging to his office sweet and clean, fit for use ; his drinking vessels were to be scoured once a week. The fines imposed by the President and other officers were to be fairly recorded by him in a book, kept for that purpose. He was to attend upon the ringing of the bell for prayer in the hall, and for lectures and commons. Providing candles for the hall was a part of his duty. He was obliged to keep the Buttery supplied, at his own expense, with beer, cider, tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, biscuit, butter, cheese, pens, ink, paper, and such other articles as the President or Corporation or- dered or permitted ; " but no permission," it is added in the laws, " shall be given for selling wine, distilled spirits, or foreign fruits, on credit or for ready money." He was allowed to advance twenty per cent, on the net cost of the articles sold by him, excepting beer and cider, which were stated quarterly by the President and Tutors. The Butler was allowed a Freshman to assist him, for an account of whom see under Butler's Freshman. — Peirce's Hist. Harv. TJniv.^ App., pp. 138, 139. Laws Harv. Co7?., 1798, pp. 60 - 62. President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse pronounced before the Graduates of Yale College, August 14th, 1850, remarks as follows concerning the Butler, in connection with that institution : — " The classes since 1817, when the office of Butler was abolished, are probably but little aware of the meaning of that singular appendage to the College, which had been in existence a hundred years. To older graduates the lower front corner room of the old middle college in the south entry must even now suggest many amusing recollections. The Butler was a graduate of recent stand- ing, and, being invested with rather delicate functions, was required to be one in whom confidence might be reposed. Several of the elder graduates who have filled this office are here to-day, and can explain, better than I can, its AND CUSTOMS. 35 duties and its bearings upon the interests of College. The chief prerogative of the Butler was to have the monopoly of certain eatables, drinkables, and other articles desired by- students. The Latin laws of 1748 give him leave to sell in the buttery, cider, metheglin, strong beer to the amount of not more than twelve barrels annually, — which amount as the College grew was increased to twenty, — together with loaf-sugar (' saccharum rigidum '), pipes, tobacco, and such necessaries of scholars as were not furnished in the commons hall. Some of these necessaries were books and stationery, but certain fresh fruits also figured largely in the Butler's supply. No student might buy cider or beer else- where. The Butler, too, had the care of the bell, and was bound to wait upon the President or a Tutor, and notify him of the time for prayers. He kept the book of fines, which, as we shall see, was no small task. He distributed the bread and beer provided by the Steward in the Hall into equal portions, and had the lost commons, for which privi- lege he paid a small annual sum. He was bound, in con- sideration of the profits of his monopoly, to provide candles at college prayers and for a time to pay also fifty shillings sterling into the treasury. The more menial part of these duties he performed by his waiter." — pp. 43, 44. At both Harvard and Yale the students were restricted in expending money at the Buttery, being allowed at the former " to con- tract a debt " of five dollars a quarter ; at the latter, of one dollar and twenty-five cents per month. BUTTER. A size or small portion of butter. " Send me a roll and two Butters." — Grad, ad Cantah, Six cheeses, three butters, and two beers. — The Collegian^ s Guide. BUTTERY. An apartment in a house where butter, milk, provisions, and utensils are kept. In some colleges, a room where liquors, fruit, and refreshments are kept for sale to the students. — Wehster. Of the Buttery, Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard Uni- versity, speaks as follows ; — "As the Commons rendered the 36 COLLEGE WORDS College independent of private boarding-houses, so the But- tery removed all just occasion for resorting to the different marts of luxury, intemperance, and ruin. This was a kind of supplement to the Commons, and offered for sale to the students, at a moderate advance on the cost, wines, liquors, groceries, stationery, and in general such articles as it was proper and necessary for them to have occasionally, and which for the most part were not included in the Commons fare. The Buttlry was also an ofhce, where, among other things, records were kept of the times when the scholars were present and absent. At their admission and subse- quent returns they entered their names in the Buttery, and took them out whenever they had leave of absence. The Butler, who was a graduate, had various other duties to perform, either by. himself or by his Freshman^ as ringing the bell, seeing that the Hall was kept clean, &c., and was allowed a salary, which, after 1765, was £ 60 per annum." — Hist. Harv. Univ., p. 220. President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse pronounced before the Graduates of Yale College, August 14th, 1850, makes the following remarks on this subject : — '* The orig- inal motives for setting up a buttery in colleges seem to have been to put the trade in articles which appealed to the appetite into safe hands, to ascertain how far students were expensive in their habits, and prevent them from running into debt ; and finally, by providing a place where drinka- bles of not very stimulating qualities were sold, to remove the temptation of going abroad after spirituous liquors. Ac- cordingly, laws were passed limiting the sum for which the Butler might give credit to a student, authorizing the Presi- dent to inspect his books, and forbidding him to sell any thing except permitted articles for ready money. But the whole system, as viewed from our position as critics of the past, must be pronounced a bad one. It rather tempted the student to self-indulgence by setting up a place for the sale of things to eat and drink within the College walls, than re- strained him by bringing his habits under inspection. There was nothing to prevent his going abroad in quest of stronger AND CUSTOMS. 37 drinks than could be bought at the buttery, when once those which were there sold ceased to allay his thirst. And a monopoly, such as the butler enjoyed of certain articles, did not tend to lower their price, or to renaove suspicion that they were sold at a higher rate than free competition would assign to them." — pp. 44, 45. " When," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " the ' pun- ishment obscene,' as Cowper, the poet, very properly terms it, o^ flagellation, was enforced at our University, it appears that the Buttery was the scene of action. In the Poor Scholar, a comedy, written by Eobert Nevile, Fellow of King's College in Cambridge, London, 1662, one of the students having lost his gown, which is picked up by the President of the College, the tutor says, ' If we knew the owner, we 'd take him down to th' Butterie, and give him due correction.' To which the student, (aside,) ' Under cor- rection. Sir ; if you 're for the Butteries with me, I '11 lie as- close as Diogenes in dolio. I '11 creep in at the bunghole,. before I '11 mount a barrel,'' &c. (Ac. II. Sc. 6.) — Again : ' Had I been once i' th' Butteries, they 'd have their rods about me. But let us, for joy that I 'm escaped, go to the Three Tuns and drink a pint of wine, and laugh away our cares. — 'T is drinking at the Tuns that keeps us from as- cending Buttery barrels,' &c." By a reference to the word Punishment, it will be seen that, in the older American colleges, corporal punishment was inflicted upon disobedient students in a manner much more solemn and imposing, the students and officers usually being present. The effect of crossing the name in the buttery is thus stated in the Collegian's Guide. " To keep a term requires residence in the University for a certain number of days within a space of time known by the calendar, and the books of the buttery afford the appointed proof of resi- dence ; it being presumed that, if neither bread, butter, pastry, beer, or even toast and water (which is charged one farthing), are entered on the buttery books in a given name, the party could not have been resident that day. Hence the phrase of ' eating one's way into the church or to a doctor's 4 38 COLLEGE WORDS degree.' Supposing, for example, twenty-one days' resi- dence are required between the first of May and the twenty- fourth inclusive, then there will be but three days to spare ; consequently, should our names be crossed for more than three days in all in that term, — say for four days, — the other twenty days would not count, and the term would be irrecoverably lost. Having our names crossed in the but- tery, therefore, is a punishment which suspends our collegiate existence while the cross remains, besides putting an embar- go on our pudding, beer, bread and cheese, milk, and butter ; for these articles come out of the buttery." — p. 157. These remarks apply both to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but in the latter the phrase to he put out of commons is used instead of the one given above, yet with the same meaning. See Gradus ad Cantahrigiam^ p. 32. The following extract from the laws of Harvard College, passed in 1734, shows that this term was formerly used in that institution : — *' No scholar shall be put in or out of Commons^ but on Tuesdays or Fridays, and no Bachelor or Undergratuate, but by a note from the President, or one of the Tutors (if an Undergraduate, from his own Tutor, if in town) ; and when any Bachelors or Undergraduates have been out of Commons, the waiters, at their respective tables, shall, on the first Tuesday or Friday after they become obliged by the preceding law to be in Commons, put them into Commons again, by note, after the manner above di- rected. And if any Master neglects to put himself into Commons, when, by the preceding law, he is obliged to be in Commons, the waiters on the Masters' table shall apply to the President or one of the Tutors for a note to put him into Commons, and inform him of it." Be mine each morn, with eager appetite And hunger undissembled, to repair To friendly Buttery ; there on smoking Crust And foaming Ale to banquet unrestrained, Material breakfast ! The Student, Vol. I. p. 107. 1750. BUTTERY-BOOK. In colleges, a book kept at the buttery. AND CUSTOMS. 89 in which was charged the prices of such articles as were sold to the students. There was also kept a list of the fines imposed by the president and professors, and an account of the times when the students were present and absent, to- gether with a register of the names of all the members of the college. My name in sure recording page Shall time itself o'erpower, If no rude mice with envious rage The buttery-boohs devour. The Student, Vol. I. p. 348. BUTTERY-HATCH. A half-door between the buttery or kitchen and the hall, in colleges and old mansions. Also called a buttery -bar, — HalliwelVs Arch, and Prov. Words, If any scholar or scholars at any time take away or detain any vessel of the colleges, great or small, from the hall out of the doors from the sight of the buttery-hatch without the butler's or servitor's knowledge, or against their will, he or they shall be punished three pence. — Quincy^s Hist. Harv. Coll., Vol. I. p. 584. He (the college butler) domineers over Freshmen, when they first come to the hatch. — Earless Micro-cosmographie, 1628, Char. 17. There was a small ledging or bar on this hatch to rest the tankards on. I pray you, bring your hand to the buttery-bar, and let it drink. — Twelfth Night, Act i. Sc. 3. BUCK. At Princeton College, any thing which is in an inten- sive degree good, excellent, pleasant, or agreeable, is called buck. BYE-TERM. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., stu- dents who take the degree of A. B. at any other time save January, are said to " go out in a bye-term " 40 COLLEGE WORDS C. CAHOOLE. At the University of North Carolina, this word in its application is almost universal, but generally signifies to cajole, to wheedle, to deceive, to procure. CAMPUS. At the College of New Jersey, the college yard is denominated the Campus. Back Campus^ the privies. CANTAB. Abridged for Cantabrigian. It was transmitted to me by a respectable Cantab for insertion. — Honeys Every-day Book, Vol. I. p. 697. Should all this be a mystery to our uncollegiate friends, or even to many matriculated Cantabs, we advise them not to attempt to unriddle it. — Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 39. CANTABRIGIAN. A student or graduate of the University of Cambridge, Eng. Used also at Cambridge, Mass., of the students and inhabitants. CAP. To uncover the head in reverence or civility. The youth, ignorant who they were, had omitted to cap them. — Gent. Mag-., Vol. XXIV. p. 567. I could not help smiling, when, among the dignitaries whom I was bound to make obeisance to by capping whenever I met them, Mr. Jackson's catalogue included his all-important self in the num- ber.— TAe Eionian^YoL II. p. 217. Used in the English universities. CAPUT. Latin, the head. In Cambridge, Eng., a council of the University, by which every grace must be approved be- fore it can be submitted to the senate. It consists of the Vice-Chancellor, a doctor of each of the faculties of divinity, law, and medicine, and two*masters of arts, chosen annual- ly by the senate. — Webster. Cam. Cal. CARCER. Latin. In German schools and universities, a prison. — Adler'*s Germ, and Eng. Did, 2Bot(ten ifjn t^rauf tie Olumberger ^erren 2©it nicl?W, Vvc nid?t^ in£f <£ a r c e r f)?erren. Wallenstein^s Lager. AND CUSTOMS. 41 And their Nur'mberg worships swore he should go To jail for his pains, — if he liked it, or no. Trans. Wallenstein' s Camp, in Bohn^s Stand. Lib., p. 155. CAUTION MONEY. In the English universities, a deposit in the hands of the tutor at entrance by way of security. In American colleges, a bond is usually given by a student upon entering college, in order to secure the payment of all his college dues. CHAMBER. The apartment of a student at a college or uni- versity. This word, although formerly used in American colleges, has been of late almost entirely supplanted by the word room, and it is for this reason that it is here noticed. If any of them choose to provide themselves with breakfasts in their own chambers, they are allowed so to do, but not to breakfast in one another's chambers. — Quina/^s Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. II. p. 116. Some ringleaders gave up their chambers. — Ibid..^ Vol. 11. p. 116. CHAMBER-MATE. One who inhabits the same room or chamber with another. Formerly used at our colleges. The word Chum, is now very generally used in its place ; sometimes room-mate is substituted. If any one shall refuse to find his proportion of furniture, wood, and candles, the President and Tutors shall charge such delinquent, in his quarter bills, his full proportion, which sum shall be paid to his chamber-mate. — Laws Harv. Coll., 1798, p. 35. CHANCELLOR. The chancellor of a university is an offi- cer who seals the diplomas, or letters of degree, &c. The ^Chancellor of Oxford is usually one of the prime nobility, elected by the students in convocation ; and he holds the office for life. He is the chief magistrate in the government of the University. The Chancellor of Cambridge is also elected from among the prime nobility ; he does not hold his office for life, but may be elected every three years. — Wehster, CHAPEL. A house for public worship, erected separate from a church. In England, chapels in the universities are places of worship belonging to particular colleges. The 4* 42 COLLEGE WORDS chapels connected with the colleges in the United States are used for the same purpose. Religious exercises are usually held in them, twice a day, morning and evening, besides the services on the Sabbath. CHAPEL CLERK. At Cambridge, Eng., in some colleges, it is the duty of this officer to mark the students as they enter chapel ; in others he merely sees that the proper les- sons are read, by the students appointed by the Dean for that purpose. — Gradus ad Cantab, CHAPLAIN. In universities and colleges, the clergyman who performs divine service, morning and evening. CHAW. A deception or trick. To say, " It 's all a gum," or ** a regular chaw,'*'' is the same thing.— TAe Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117. CHAW. To use up. Yesterday a Junior cracked a joke on me, when all standing round shouted in great glee, *' Chawed ! Freshman chawed ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! " *' No I a'n't chawed,'''' said I, " I 'm as whole as ever." But I did n't understand, when a fellow is used up, he is said to be chawed; if very much used up, he is said to be essentially chawed. — The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117. The verb to chaw up is used with nearly the same mean- ing in some of the Western States. Miss Patience said she was gratified to hear Mr. Cash was a musician ; she admired people who had a musical taste. Where- upon Cash fell into a chair, as he afterwards observed, chawed up. Thorpe^ s Backwoods, p. 28. CHIP DAY. At Williams College a day near the beginning of spring is thus designated, and is explained in the follow- ing passage. " They give us, near the close of the second term, what is called ' chip day,"* when we put the grounds in order, and remove the ruins caused by a winter's siege on the wood-piles." — Sketches of Williams College, p. 79. CHORE. In the German universities, a club or society of the students is thus designated. Duels between members of different chores were once frequent ; AND CUSTOBIS. 43 — sometimes one man was obliged to fight the members of a whole chore in succession. — Yale Lit. Mag,, Vol. XV. p. 5. CHUM. Armenian, chomm^ or chommein^ or ham^ to dwell, stay, or lodge ; French, chdmer, to rest; Saxon, ham, home. A chamber-fellow ; one who lodges or resides in the same room. — Webster. This word is used at the universities and colleges, both in England and the United States. A young student laid a wager with his chum, that the Dean was at that instant smoking his pipe. — Philip'' s Life and Poems, p. 13. But his chum Had wielded, in his just defence, A bowl of vast circumference. — Rehelliad, p. 17. I am again your petitioner in behalf of that great chum of litera- ture, Samuel Johnson. — Smollett, in Boswell. In this last instance, the word chum is used either with the more extending meaning of companion, friend, or, as the sovereign prince of Tartary is called the Cham or Khan^ so Johnson is called the chum (cham) or prince of literature. CHUM. To occupy a chamber with another. CHUMMING. Occupying a room with another. Such is one of the evils of chumming. — Harvardiana, Vol. I. p. 324. CLASS. A number of students in a college or school, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies. In col- leges, the students entering or becoming members the same year, and pursuing the same studies. — Wehster. In the University of Oxford, class is the division of the candidates who are examined for their degrees according to their rate of merit. Those who are entitled to this distinc- tion are denominated classmen.^ answering to the optimes and wranglers in the University of Cambridge. — CraWs Tech, Diet. See an interesting account of "reading for a first class," in the Collegian's Guide, Chap. XII. CLASS. To place in ranks or divisions students that are pur- suing the same studies ; to form into a class or classes. — Wehster, 44 COLLEGE WORDS CLASS BOOK. Within the last twenty or thirty years, a custom has arisen at Harvard College of no small importance in a historical point of view, but which is principally deserv- ing of notice from the many pleasing associations to which its observance cannot fail to give rise. Every graduating class procures a beautiful and substantial folio of many hun- dred pages, called the Class Book^ and lettered with the year of the graduation of the class. In this a certain number of pages is allotted to each individual of the class, in which he inscribes a brief autobiography, paying particular attention to names and dates. The book is then deposited in the hands of the Class Secretary^ whose duty it is to keep a faith- ful record of the marriage, birth of children, and death of each of his classmates, together with their various places of residence, and the offices and honors to which each may have attained. This information is communicated to him by letter by his classmates, and he is in consequence pre- pared to answer any inquiries relative to any member of the class. At his death, the book passes into the hands of one of the Class Committee^ and at their death, into those of some surviving member of the class, and when the class has at length become extinct, it is deposited on the shelves of the College Library. The Class Book also contains a full list of all persons who have at any time been members of the class, together with such information as can be gathered in reference to them ; and the prizes, deturs, parts at Exhibitions and Com- mencement, degrees, etc., of all its members. Into it are also copied the Class Oration, Poem, and Ode, and the Sec- retary's report of the class meeting, at which the officers were elected. It is also intended to contain the records of all future class meetings, and the accounts of the Class Sec- retary, who is ex officio Class Treasurer and Chairman of the Class Committee. By virtue of his office of Class Treasurer, he procures the Cradle for the successful candi- date, and keeps in his possession the Class Fund, which is sometimes raised to defray the accruing expenses of the Class in future times. AND CUSTOMS. 45 In the Harvardiana, Vol. IV., is an extract from the Class Book of 1838, which is very Curious and unique. To this is appended the following note. " It may be necessary to inform many of our readers, that the Class Book is a large volume, in which autobiographical sketches of the members of each graduating class are recorded, and which is left in the hands of the Class Secretary." CLASS CAP. At Hamilton College, it is customary for the Sophomores to appear in a class cap on the Junior Exhibi- tion day, which is worn generally during part of the third term. CLASS COMMITTEE. At Harvard College a committee of two persons, joined with the Class Secretary^ who is ex officio its chairman, whose duty it is, after the class has graduated, during their lives to call class meetings, when- ever they deem it advisable, and to attend to all other busi- ness relating to the class. See under Class Book. CLASS CRADLE. For some years it has been customary at Harvard College for the Senior Class, at the meeting for the election of the officers of Class Day, &c., to appropriate a certain sum of money, usually not exceeding fifty dollars, for the purchase of a cradle, to be given to the first member of the class to whom a child is born in lawful wedlock at a suitable time after marriage. This sum is intrusted to the hands of the Class Secretary^ who is expected to transmit the present to the successful candidate upon the receipt of the requisite information. In one instance a Bahy-jumper was voted by the class, to be given to the second member who should be blessed as above stated. CLASS DAY. The custom at Harvard College of observing with appropriate exercises the day on which the Senior Class finish their studies, is of a very early date. The first notice which appears in reference to this subject is con- tained in an account of the disorders which began to prevail among the students about the year 1760r Among the evils to be remedied are mentioned the " disorders upon the day 46 COLLEGE WORDS of the Senior Sophisters meeting to choose the officers of the class," when " it was usual for each scholar to bring a bottle of wine with him, which practice the committee (that reported upon it) apprehend has a natural tendency to produce disorders." But the disturbances were not wholly confined to the meeting when the officers of Class Day were chosen ; they occurred also on Class Day, and it was for this reason that frequent attempts were made at this period, by the College government, to suppress its observance. How far their effi^rts succeeded is not known, but it is safe to con- clude that greater interruptions were occasioned by the war of the Revolution, than by the attempts to abolish what it would have been wiser to have reformed. In a MS. Journal, under date of June 21st4J.!Z%l, is the following entry : " Neither the valedictory oration by Ward, nor poem by Walton, was delivered, on account of a division in the class, and also because several were gone home." How long previous to this the 21st of June had been the day chosen for the exercises of the class, is uncertain ; but for many years after, unless for special reasons, this period was regularly selected for that purpose. Another extract from the MS. above mentioned, under date of June 21st, 1792, reads : "A valedictory poem was delivered by Paine 1st, and a valedictory Latin oration by Abiel Abbott." The biographer of Mr. Robert Treat Paine, referring to the poem noticed in the above memorandum, says : " The 21st of every June, till of late years, has been the day on which the members of the Senior Class closed their collegiate studies, and retired to make preparations for the ensuing Commencement. On this day it was usual for one member to deliver an oration, and another a poem ; such members being appointed by their classmates. The Valedictory Poem of Mr. Paine, a tender, correct, and beautiful effiasion of feeling and taste, was received by the audience with ap- plause and tears." In another place he speaks on the same subject, as follows : " The solemnity which produced this poem is extremely interesting ; and, being of ancient date, it is to be hoped that it may never fall into disuse. His AND CUSTOMS. 47 affection for the University Mr. Paine cherished, as one of his most sacred principles. Of this poem, Mr. Paine always spoke as one of his happiest efforts. Coming from so young a man, it is certainly very creditable, and promises more, I fear, than the untoward circumstances of his after life would permit him to perform." — Paine* s Works^ pp. xxvii., 439, ed. 1812. An account of Class Day, near the close of the last cen- tury, may not be uninteresting. It is from the Diary which is above referred to. ^..^-^ " 20th (Thursday). This day for special reasons the vale- dictory poem and oration were performed. The order of the day was this. At ten, the class walked in procession to the ^ President's, and escorted him, the Professors, and Tutors, to ^ ^ the Chapel, preceded by the band playing solemn music. y^ " The President began with a short prayer. He then /\\ read a chapter in the Bible ; after this he prayed again ; ^ Cutler then delivered his poem. Then the singing club, i # accompanied by the band, performed Williams's Friendship, y This was succeeded by a valedictory Latin Oration by Jack- |\ son. We then formed, and waited on the government to the President's, where we were very respectably treated with wine, &;c. '' We then marched in procession to Jackson's room, where we drank punch. At one we went to Mr. Moore's tavern and partook of an elegant entertainment, which cost 6/4 a piece. Marching then to Cutler's room, we shook hands, and parted with expressing the sincerest tokens of friendship." June, }793. Alterations were continually made in the observances o#» Class Day, and in twenty years after the period last men- tioned, its character had in many particulars changed. In- stead of the Latin, an English oration of a somewhat sport- ive nature had been introduced ; the Poem was either serious or comic, at the writer's option, usually, however, the former. After the exercises in the Chapel, the class commonly re- paired to Porter's Hall, and there partook of a dinner, not always observing with perfect strictness the rules of tem- 48 COLLEGE WORDS perance either in eating or drinking. This " cenobitical symposium " concluded, they again returned to the college yard, where, scattered in groups under the trees, the rest of the day was spent in singing, smoking, and drinking, or pre- tending to drink, punch ; for the negroes who supplied it in pails usually contrived to take two or more glasses to every one glass that was drank by those for whom it was provided. The dance around the Liberty Tree, *' Each hand in comrade's hand," closed the regular ceremonies of the day ; but generally the greater part of the succeeding night was spent in feasting and hilarity. The punch-drinking in the yard increased to such an ex- tent, that it was considered by the government of the college as a matter which demanded their interference ; and in the year 1842, on one of these occasions, an instructor having joined with the students in their revel lings in the yard, the Faculty proposed that, instead of spending the afternoon in this manner, dancing should be introduced, which was ac- cordingly done, with the approbation of both parties. ^^The observances of the day, which in a small way may be considered as a rival of Commencement, are at present as follows. The Orator, Poet, Odist, Chaplain, and Mar- shals having been previously chosen, on the morning of Class Day, the Seniors assemble in the yard, and, preceded by the band, walk in procession to one of the halls of the College, where a prayer is offered by the Class Chaplain. They then proceed to the President's house, and escort him to the Chapel, where the following order is observed. A prayer by one of the College officers is succeeded by the Oration, in which the transactions of the class from their entrance into College to the present time are reviewed with witty and appropriate remarks. The Poem is then pro- nounced, followed by the Ode, which is sung by the whole class to the tune of "Fair Harvard." Music is performed at intervals by the band. The class then withdraw to Har- vard Hall, accompanied by their friends and invited guests, where a rich collation is providedr* AND CUSTOMS. 49 After an interval of from one to two hours, the dancing commences in the yard. Cotillions and the easier dances are here performed, but the sport closes in the hall with the Polka and other fashionable steps. The Seniors again form, and make the circuit of the yard, cheering the buildings, great and small. They then assemble under the Liberty Tree, around which with hands joined they dance, after singing the student's adopted song, " Auld Lang Syne." At parting, each member takes a sprig or a flower from the beautiful " Wreath " which surrounds the " farewell tree," which is sacredly treasured as a last memento of college scenes and enjoyments. Thus close the exercises of the day, after which the class separate until Commencement. CLASSIS. Same meaning as Class. The Latin for the Eng- lish. [They shall] observe the generall hours appointed for all the stu- dents, and the speciall houres for their own classis. — New Eng- land's First Fruits, in Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. I. p. 243. CLASS LIST. In the University of Oxford, a list in which are entered the names of those who are examined for their degrees, according to their rate of merit. There are some men who read for honors in that covetous and con- tracted spirit, and so bent upon securing the name of scholarship, even at the sacrifice of the reality, that, for the pleasure of reading their names at the top of the class list, they would make the exam- iners a present of all their Latin and Greek the moment they left the schools. — The Collegian's Guide, p. 327. CLASSMAN. See Class. CLASSMATE. A member of the same class with another. ' The day is wound up with a scene of careless laughter and merri- ment, among a dozen of joke-loving classmates. — Harv. Reg., p. 202. CLASS MEETING. A meeting where all the class are as- sembled for the purpose of carrying out some measure, appointing class officers, or transacting business of interest to the whole class. 5 50 COLLEGE WORDS In Harvard College, no class, or general, or other meet- ing of students can be called without an application in writ- ing of three students, and no more, expressing the purpose of such meeting, nor otherwise than by a printed notice, signed by the President, expressing the time, the object, and place of such meeting, and the three students applying for such meeting are held responsible for any proceedings at it contrary to the laws of the College. — Laws TJniv, Cam,^ Mass.^ 1848, Appendix. While one, on fame alone intent, Seeks to be chosen President Of clubs, or a class meeting. Harv. Reg., p. 247. CLASSOLOGY. That subject which treats of the members of the classes of a college. This word is used in the title of a pleasant jeu d^esprit by Mr. William Biglow, on the class which graduated at Harvard College in 1792. It is called " Classology : an Anacreontic Ode, in Imitation of ' Heathen Mythology.' " See under High Go. CLASS SECRETARY. For an account of this officer, see under Class Book. CLASS SUPPER. In American colleges, a supper attended only by the members of a collegiate class. Class suppers are given in some colleges at the close of each year ; in others, only at the close of the Sophomore and Senior years, or at one of these periods. CLIMBING. In reference to this word, a correspondent from Dartmouth College writes : " At the commencement of this century, the Greek, Latin, and Philosophical Orations were assigned by the Faculty to the best scholars, while the Valedictorian was chosen from the remainder by his class- mates. It was customary for each one of these four to treat his classmates, which was called ' Climbing,'* from the effect which the liquor would have in elevating the class to an equality with the first scholars." AND CUSTOMS. M COAX. This word was formerly used at Yale College in the some sense as the word fish at Harvard, viz. to seek or gain the favor of a teacher by flattery. One of the Proverbs of Solomon was often changed by the students to read as follows. " Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth but- ter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood ; so the coaxing of tutors bringeth forth parts." — Prov. xxx. 33. COLLAR. At Yale College, " to come up with ; to seize ; to lay hold on ; to appropriate." — Yale Lit, Mag.^ Vol. XIV. p. 144. By that means the oration marks will be effectually collared, with scarce an effort. — . Yale Banger^ Oct. 1848. COLLECTION. In the University of Oxford, a college ex- amination, which takes place at the end of every term be- fore the Warden and Tutor. Read some Herodotus for Collections. — The Etonian, Vol. IT. p. 348. COLLECTOR. A Bachelor of Arts in the University of Ox- ford, who is appointed to superintend some scholastic pro- ceedings in Lent. — Todd, COLLECTORSHIP. The office of a collector in the Univer- sity of Oxford. — Todd. This Lent the collectors ceased from entertaining the Bachelors by advice and command of the proctors ; so that now they got by their collector shi'ps, whereas before they spent about 100/., besides their gains, on clothes or needless entertainments. — Life of A. Wood, p. 286. COLLEGE. Latin, collegium ; con and lego, to gather. In its primary sense, a collection or assembly ; hence in a gen- eral sense, a collection, assemblage, or society of men, in- vested with certain powers and rights, performing certain duties, or engaged in some common employment or pur- suit. 1. An establishment or edifice appropriated to the use of students who are acquiring the languages and sciences. 2. The society of persons engaged in the pursuits of 52 COLLEGE WORDS literature, including the officers and students. Societies of this kind are incorporated and endowed with revenues. " A college, in the modern sense of that word, was an in- stitution which arose within a university, probably ^vithin that of Paris or of Oxford first, being intended either as a kind of boarding-school, or for the support of scholars desti- tute of means, who were here to live under particular super- vision. By degrees it became more and more the custom that teachers should be attached to these establishments. And as they grew in favor, they were resorted to by persons of means, who paid for their board ; and this to such a de- gree, that at one time the colleges included nearly all the members of the University of Paris. In the English uni- versities the colleges may have been first established by a master who gathered pupils around him, for whose board and instruction he provided. He exercised them perhaps in logic and the other liberal arts, and repeated the university lectures as well as superintended their morals. As his scholars grew in number, he associated with himself other teachers, who thus acquired the name o^ fellows. Thus it naturally happened that the government of colleges, even of those which were founded by the benevolence of pious per- sons, was in the hands of a principal called by various names, such as rector, president, provost, or master, and of fellows, all of whom were resident within the walls of the same edifices where the students lived. Where charitable munificence went so far as to provide for the support of a greater number of fellows than were needed, some of them were intrusted, as tutors, with the instruction of the under- graduates, while others performed various services within their college, or passed a life of learned leisure." — Pres, Woohey''s Hist. Disc, New Haven, Aug. 14, 1850, p. 8. 3. In foreign universities^ a public lecture. — Wthster. COLLEGE BIBLE. The laws of a college are sometimes significantly called the College Bihle. He cons the College Bible with eager, longing eyes, And wonders how poor students at six o'clock can rise. Poem before ladma of Harv. Coll., 1850. AND CUSTOMS. 53 COLLEGER. A member of a college. We stood like veteran collegers the next day's screw. — Harvar- didna, Vol. III. p. 9. [Little used.] COLLEGE YARD. The inclosure on or within which the buildings of a college are situated. Although college in- closures are usually open for others to pass through than those connected with the college, yet by law the grounds are as private as those connected with private dwellings, and are kept so, by refusing entrance for a certain period, to all who are not members of the college, at least once in twenty years, although the time differs in different States. But when they got to College yard, With one accord they all huzza'd. — Rebelliad, p. 33. Not ye, whom science never taught to roam Far as a College yard or student's home. Harv, Reg., p. 232. COLLEGIAN. A member of a college, particularly of a literary institution so called ; an inhabitant of a college. — Johnson, COLLEGIATE. Pertaining to a college ; as, collegiate studies. 2. Containing a college ; instituted after the manner of a college ; as, a collegiate society. — Johnson, COLLEGIATE. A member of a college. COACH. In the English universities, this term is variously ap- plied, as will be seen by a reference to the annexed examples. Every thing is (or used to be) called a " coach " at Oxford : a lecture-class, or a club of men meeting to take wine, luncheon, or breakfast alternately, were severally called a '* wine, luncheon, or breakfast coach " ; so a private tutor was called a *' private coax:^h " ; and one, like Hilton of Worcester, very famed for getting his men safe through, was termed '* a Patent Safety." — The Collegian's Guide, p. 103. It is to his private tutors, or '* coaches,'^'' that he looks for instruc- tion. — Household Words, Vol. II. p. 160. He applies to Mr. Crammer. Mr. Crammer is a celebrated " coach " for lazy and stupid men, and has a system of his own which has met with decided success. — Ibid., Vol. II. p. 162. 5* 54 COLLEGE WORDS COACHING. A cant term, in the British universities, for pre- paring a student, by the assistance of a private tutor, to pass an examination. Whether a man shall throw away every opportunity which a university is so eminently calculated to afford, and come away with a mere testamur gained rather by the trickery of private coaching (tutoring) than by mental improvement, depends, &c. — The Col- legian's Guide, p. 15. COMBINATION. An agreement, for effecting some object, by joint operation ; in an ill sense, when the purpose is illegal or iniquitous. An agreement entered into by students to resist or disobey the Faculty of the College, or to do any un- lawful act, is a combination. When the number concerned is so great as to render it inexpedient to punish all, those most culpable are usually selected, or as many as are deemed necessary to satisfy the demands of justice. — Laws Yale Coll, 1837, p. 27. Laws Univ. Cam., Mass., 1848, p. 23. COMBINATION ROOM. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., a room into which the fellows withdraw after dinner, for wine, dessert, and conversation. — Webster. COMMEMORATION DAY. At the University of Oxford, Eng., this day is an annual solemnity in honor of the bene- factors of the University, when orations are delivered, and prize compositions are read in the theatre. It is the great day of festivity for the year. — Huber. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., there is always a sermon on this day. The lesson which is read in the course of the service is from Ecclus. xliv. " Let us now praise famous men," &;c. It is " a day," says the Gradus ad Can- tabrigiam, " devoted to prayers, and good living." It was formerly called Anniversary Bay. COMMENCE. To take a degree, or the first degree, in a university or college. — Bailey. Nine Bachelors commenced at Cambridge ; they were young men of good hope, and performed their acts so as to give good proof of their proficiency in the tongues and arts. — Winthrop^s Journal, by Mr. Savage, Vol. II. p. 87. AND CUSTOMS. 55 Four Senior Sophist ers came from Say brook, and received the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, and several others commenced Mas- ters. — Clafs Hist. Yale Coll., p. 20. A scholar see him now commence Without the aid of books or sense. TrumbuWs Progress of Dulness, 1794, p. 12. COMMENCEMENT. The time when students in colleges V commence bachelors ; a day in which degrees are publicly conferred in the English and American universities. — Webster, At Harvard College, in its earliest days, Commencements were attended, as at present, by the highest officers in the State. At the first Commencement on the second Tuesday of August, 1642, we are told that " the Governour, Magis- trates, and the Ministers, from all parts, with all sorts of schoUars, and others in great numbers were present." — New England^s First Fruits^ in Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. I. p. 246. In the MS. Diary of Judge Sewall, under date of July 1, 1685, Commencement Day, is this remark : " Gov'r there, whom I accompanied to Charlestown " ; and again, under date of July 2, 1690, is the following entry respecting the Commencement of that year : " Go to Cambridge by water in y° Barge wherein the Gov'r, Maj. Gen'l, Capt. Black- well, and others." In the Private Journal of Cotton Mather, under the dates of 1708 and 1717, there are notices of the Boston troops waiting on the Governor to Cambridge on Commencement Day. During the presidency of Wads- worth, which continued from 1725 to 1737, " it was the cus- tom," says Quincy, " on Commencement Day, for the Governor of the Province to come from Boston through Roxbury, often by the way of Watertown, attended by his body guards, and to arrive at the College about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning. A procession was then formed of the Corporation, Overseers, magistrates, ministers, and in- vited gentlemen, and immediately moved from Harvard Hall to the Congregational church." After the exercises of the day were over, the students escorted the Governor, Cor- 56 COLLEGE WORDS poration, and Overseers, in procession, to the President's house. This description would answer very well for the present day, by adding the graduating class to the proces- sion, and substituting the Boston Lancers as an escort, in- stead of the " body guards." The exercises at the first Commencement are stated in New England's First Fruits, above referred to, as fol- lows : — " Latine and Greeke Orations, and Declamations^ and Hebrew Analysis, Grammatical!, Logicall, and Rhetori- call of the Psalms : And their answers and disputations in Logicall, Ethicall, Physical, and Metaphysicall questions." At Commencement in 1685, the exercises were, besides Dis- putes, four Orations, one Latin, two Greek, and one He- brew. In the presidency of Wadsworth, above referred to, " the exercises of the day," says Quincy, " began with a short prayer by the President ; a salutatory oration in Latin, by one of the graduating class, succeeded ; then disputa- tions on theses or questions in Logic, Ethics, and Natural Philosophy commenced. When the disputation terminated, one of the candidates pronounced a Latin ' gratulatory ora- tion.' The graduating class were then called, and, after asking leave of the Governor and Overseers, the President conferred the Bachelor's degree, by delivering a book to the candidates (who came forward successively in parties of four), and pronouncing a form of words in Latin. An ad- journment then took place to dinner, in Harvard Hall ; from thence the procession returned to the church, and, after the Masters' disputations, usually three in number, were finished, their degrees were conferred, with the same general forms as those of the Bachelors. An occasional address was then made by the President. A Latin valedictory oration by one of the Masters succeeded, and the exercises concluded with a prayer by the President." Similar to this is the account given by the Hon. Paine Wingate, a graduate of the class of 1759, of the exercises of Commencement as conducted while he was in College. " I do not recollect now," he says, " any part of the public exercises on Commencement Day to be in English, except- AND CUSTOMS. 57 ing the President's prayers at opening and closing the ser- vices. Next after the prayer followed the Salutatory Oration in Latin, by one of the candidates for the first degree. This ofRce was assigned by the President, and was supposed to be given to him who was the best orator in the class. Then followed a Syllogistic Disputation in Latin, in which four or five or more of those who were distinguished as good scholars in the class were appointed by the President as Respondents, to whom was assigned certain questions which the Respondents maintained, and the rest of the class severally opposed, and endeavored to invalidate. This was conducted wholly in Latin, and in the form of Syllogisms and Theses. At the close of the Disputation, the President usually added some remarks in Latin. After these exer- cises the President conferred the degrees. This, I think, may be considered as the summary of the public perform- ances on a Commencement Day. I do not recollect any Forensic Disputation, or a Poem or Oration spoken in Eng- lish whilst I was in College." — Peirce^s Hist, Harv, Univ.y pp. 307, 308. As far back as the year 1685, it was customary for the President to deliver an address near the close of the exer- cises. Under this date, in the MS. Diary of Judge Sewall, are these words : " Mr. President after giving y^ Degrees made an Oration in Praise of Academical Studies and De- grees, Plebrew tongue." In 1688, at the Commencement, according to the same gentleman, Mr. William Hubbard, then acting as President under the appointment of Sir Ed- mund Andros, " made an oration." The disputations were always in Latin, and continued to be a part of the exercises of Commencement until the year 1820. The orations were in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and sometimes French; in 1818 a Spanish oration was delivered at the Commencement for that year. The first English oration was made by Mr. Jedidiah Huntington, in the year 1763. The last Latin syllogisms were in 1792, on the sub- jects " Materia cogitare non potest " and " Nil nisi ignis natura est fluidum." The first year in which the performers 58 COLLEGE WORDS spoke without a prompter was 1837. There were no Mas- ter's exercises for the first time in 1844. To prevent im- proprieties, in the year 1760, " the duty of inspecting the performances on the day," says Quincy, " and expunging all exceptionable parts, was assigned to the President ; on whom it was particularly enjoined ' to put an end to the practice of addressing the female sex.'" At a later pe- riod, in 1792, by referring to the " Order of the Exercises of Commencement," we find that in the concluding oration " honorable notice is taken, from year to year, of those who have been the principal Benefactors of the University." The practice is now discontinued. At the first Commencement, all the magistrates, elders, and invited guests who were present " dined," says Win- throp in his Journal, Vol. II. pp. 87, 88, '* at the College with the scholars' ordinary commons, which was done on purpose for the students' encouragement, &c., and it gave good content to all." After dinner, a Psalm was usually - sung. In 1685, at Commencement, Sewall says : " After dinner y^ 3d part of y^ 103d Ps. was sung in y^ Hall." The seventy-eighth Psalm was the one usually sung, an ac- count of which will be found under that title. The Senior Class usually waited on the table on Commencement Day. After dinner, they were allowed to take what provisions were left, and eat them at their rooms, or in the hall. This custom was not discontinued until the year 1812. In 1754, owing to the expensive habits worn on Com- mencement Day, a law was passed, ordering that on that day " every candidate for his degree appear in black, or dark blue, or gray clothes; and that no one wear any silk night-gowns ; and that any candidate, who shall appear dressed contrary to such regulations, may not expect his de- gree." At present, on Commencement Day, every candi- date for a first degree wears, according to the law, " a black dress and the usual black gown." It was formerly customary, on this day, for the students to provide entertainment in their rooms. In 1722, in the latter part of President Leverett's administration, an act was AND CUSTOMS. 59 passed ^' for reforming the Extravagancys of Commence- ments," and providing " that henceforth no preparation nor provision of either Plumb Cake, or Roasted, Boyled, or Baked Meates or Pyes of any kind shal be made by any Commencer," and that no " such have any distilled Ly- quours in his Chamber or any composition therewith," under penalty of being " punished twenty shillings to be paid to the use of the College," and of forfeiture of the provisions and liquors, " to he seized hy the tutors.'*'* The President and Corporation were accustomed to visit the rooms of the Commencers, " to see if the laws prohibiting certain meats and drinks were not violated." These restrictions not being sufficient, a vote passed the Corporation in 1727, declaring, that " if any, who now doe, or hereafter shall, stand for their degrees, presume to doe any thing contrary to the act of 1 1th June, 1722, or go about to evade it ly plain cake^ they shall not be admitted to their degree, and if any, after they have received their degree, shall presume to make any forbidden provisions, their names shall be left or rased out of the Catalogue of the Graduates." In 1749, the Corpo- ration strongly recommended to the parents and guardians of such as were to take degrees that year, " considering the awful judgments of God upon the land," to " retrench Com- mencement expenses, so as may best correspond with the frowns of Divine Providence, and that they take effectual care to have their sons' chambers cleared of company, and their entertainments finished, on the evening of said Com- mencement Day, or, at furthest, by next morning." In 1755, attempts were made to prevent those " who proceeded Bachelors of Arts from having entertainments of any kind, either in the College or any house in Cambridge, after the Commencement Day." This and several other propositions of the Overseers failing to meet with the approbation of the Corporation, a vote finally passed both boards in 1757, by which it was ordered, that, on account of the "distressing drought upon the land," and " in consideration of the dark state of Providence with respect to the war we are engaged in, which Providences call for humiliation and fasting rather 60 COLLEGE WORDS than festival entertainments," the " first and second degrees be given to the several candidates without their personal at- tendance " ; a general diploma was accordingly given, and Commencement was omitted for that year. Three years after, " all unnecessary expenses were forbidden," and also " dancing in any part of Commencement week, in the Hall, or in any College building ; nor was any undergraduate al- lowed to give any entertainment, after dinner, on Thursday of that week, under severe penalties." But the laws were not always so strict, for we find that, on account of a propo- sition made by the Overseers to the Corporation in 1759, recommending a "repeal of the law prohibiting the drink- ing of j9MWcA," the latter board voted, that " it shall be no offence if any scholar shall, at Commencement, make and entertain guests at his chamber with punch,'*'' which they afterwards declare, " as it is now usually made, is no intoxi- cating liquor." To prevent the disturbances incident to the day, an attempt was made in 1727 to have the " Commencements for time to come more private than has been usual," and for several years after, the time of Commencement was concealed ; " only a short notice," says Quincy, " being given to the public of the day on which it was to be held." Friday was the day agreed on, for the reason, says President Wadsworth in his Diary, " that there might be a less remaining time of the week spent in frolicking." This was very ill-received by the people of Boston and the vicinity, to whom Com- mencement was a season of hilarity and festivity ; the min- isters were also dissatisfied, not knowing the day in some cases, and in others being subjected to great inconvenience on account of their living at a distance from Cambridge. The practice was accordingly abandoned in 1736, and Com- mencement, as formerly, was held on Wednesday, to general satisfaction. In 1749, " three gentlemen," says Quincy, " who had sons about to be graduated, offered to give the College a thousand pounds old tenor, provided ' a trial was made of Commencements this year, in a more private man- ner.' " The proposition, after much debate, was rejected, AND CUSTOMS. 61 and " public Commencements were continued without inter- ruption, except during the period of the Revolutionary war, and occasionally, from temporary causes, during the re- mainder of the century, notwithstanding their evils, anoma- lies, and inconsistencies." Commencement Day was generally considered a holiday throughout the Province, and in the nietropolis the shops were usually closed, and little or no business was done. About ten days before this period, a body of Indians from Natick — men, women, and pappooses — commonly made their appearance at Cambridge, and took up their station around the Episcopal Church, in the cellar of which they were accustomed to sleep, if the weather was unpleasant. The women sold baskets and moccasins; the boys gained money by shooting at it, while the men wandered about and spent the little that was earned by their squaws in rum and tobacco. Then there would come along a body of itinerant negro fiddlers, whose scraping never intermitted during the lime of their abode. The Common, on Commencement week, was covered with booths, erected in lines, like streets, intended to accom- modate the populace from Boston and the vicinity with the amusements of a fair. In these were carried on all sorts of dissipation. Here was a knot of gamblers, gathered around a wheel of fortune, or watching the whirl of the ball on a roulette-table. Farther along, the jolly hucksters displayed their tempting wares in the shape of cooling beverages and palate-tickling confections. There was dancing on this side, auction-selling on the other ; here a pantomimic show, there a blind man, led by a dog, soliciting alms ; organ-grinders and hurdy-gurdy grinders, bears and monkeys, jugglers and sword-swallowers, all mingled in inextricable confusion. In a neighboring field, a countryman had, perchance, let loose a fox, which the dogs were worrying to death, while the surrounding crowd testified their pleasure at the scene by shouts of approbation. Nor was there any want of the spirituous ; pails of punch, guarded by stout negroes, bore witness to their own subtle contents, now by the man who 6 62 COLLEGE WORDS lay curled up under the adjoining hedge, " forgetting and forgot," and again by the drunkard, reeling, cursing, and fighting among his comrades. It is to such scenes as these that Mr. William Biglow refers, in his poem recited before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in their dining-hall, August 29th, 1811. " All hail, Commencement I when all classes free Throng learning's fount, from interest, taste, or glee ; When sutlers plain in tents, like Jacob, dwell, Their goods distribute, and their purses swell ; When tipplers cease on wretchedness to think, Those born to sell, as well as these to drink ; When every day each merry Andrew clears More cash than useful men in many years ; When men to business come, or come to rake, And modest women spurn at Pope's mistake.* *' All hail, Commencement ! when all colors join, To gamble, riot, quarrel, and purloin ; When Afric's sooty sons, a race forlorn. Play, swear, and fight, like Christians freely born ; And Indians bless our civilizing merit. And get dead drunk with truly Christian spirit ; When heroes, skilled in pocket-picking sleights, Of equal property and equal rights. Of rights of man and woman, boldest friends, Believing means are sanctioned by their ends, > Sequester part of Gripus' boundless store, While Gripus thanks god Plutus he has more ; And needy poet, from this ill secure, Feeling his fob, cries, ' Blessed are the poor.' " On the same subject, the writer of Our Chronicle of '26, a satirical poem, versifies in the following manner : — " Then comes Commencement Day, and Discord dire Strikes her confusion -string, and dust and noise Climb up the skies ; ladies in thin attire. For 't is in August, and both men and boys, Are all abroad, in sunshine and in glee Making all heaven rattle with their revelry ! * " Men, some ta pleasure, some to business, take ; But every woman is at heart a rake." AND CUSTOMS. \\ ^^-a* x d8v ^*^v *' Ah ! what a classic sight it is to see v^Q* Z^- ^ The black gowns flaunting in the sultry air, ^^^. ^ ^^^ Boys big with literary sympathy, ^^!^-^/i/ ^^^ And all the glories of this great affair ! ^^i^:L_ _^<^ More classic sounds ! — within, the plaudit shout, ^^"' ' While Punchinello's rabble echoes it without." To this the author appends a note, as follows : — " The holiday extends to thousands of those who have no particular classical pretensions, further than can be recog- nized in a certain 'penchant for such jubilees, contracted by attending them for years as hangers-on. On this devoted day these noisy do-nothings collect with mummers, mon- keys, bears, and rope-dancers, and hold their revels just beneath the windows of the tabernacle where the literary triumph is enacting. * Turn saeva sonars Verbera, turn stridor ferri tractaeque catenae.' " A writer in Buckingham's New England Magazine, Vol. Ill, 1832, in an article entitled "Harvard College Forty Years ago," thus describes the customs which then prevailed : — "As I entered Cambridge, what were my ' first impressions ' } The college buildings ' heaving in sight and looming up,' as the sailors say. Pyramids of Egypt ! can ye surpass these enormous piles } The com- mon covered with tents and wigwams, and people of all sorts, colors, conditions, nations, and tongues. A country muster or ordination dwindles into nothing in comparison. It was a second edition of Babel. The Governor's life- guard, in splendid uniform, prancing to and fro, * Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum,' Horny-hoofed, galloping quadrupeds make all the common to tremble. " I soon steered for the meeting-house, and obtained a seat, or rather standing, in the gallery, determined to be an eyewitness of all the sport of the day. Presently music was heard approaching, such as I had never heard before. It must be ' the music of the spheres.' Anon, three enor- mous white wigs, supported by three stately, venerable men, 64 COLLEGE WORDS yclad in black, flowing robes, were located in the pulpit. A platform of wigs w^as formed in the body pews, on which one might apparently walk as securely as on the stage. The candidates for degrees seemed to have made a mistake in dressing themselves in Mack togas instead of while ones, pro more Romanorum. The musicians jammed into their pew in the gallery, very near to me, with enormous fiddles and fifes and ramshorns. Terrihile visu ! They sounded. I stopped my ears, and with open mouth and staring eyes stood aghast with wonderment. The music ceased. The performances commenced. English, Latin, Greek, He- brew, French ! These scholars knew every thing." The irregularities of Commencement week seem at a very early period to have attracted the attention of the College government ; for we find that in 1728, to prevent disorder, a formal request was made by the President, at the sugges- tion of the immediate government, to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, praying him to direct the sheriff of Middlesex to prohibit the setting up of booths and tents on those public days. Some years after, in 1732, " an interview took place between the Corporation and three justices of the peace in Cambridge, to concert measures to keep order at Com- mencement, and under their warrant to establish a constable with six men, who, by watching and walking towards the evening on these days, and also the night following, and in and about the entry at the College Hall at dinner-time, should prevent disorders." At the beginning of the present century, it was customary for two special justices to give their attendance at this period, in order to try offences, and a guard of twenty constables was usually present to pre- serve order and attend on the justices. Among the writ- ings of one, who for fifty years was a constant attendant on these occasions, are the following memoranda, which are in themselves an explanation of the customs of early years. " Commencement, 1828 ; no tents on the Common for the first time." " Commencement, 1836 ; no persons intoxi- cated in the hall or out of it ; the first time." The following extract from the works of a French trav- AND CUSTOMS. W eller will be read with interest by some, as an instance of the manner in which our institutions are sometimes regarded by foreigners. '* In a free country, every thing ought to bear the stamp of patriotism. This patriotism appears every year in a solemn feast celebrated at Cambridge in honor of the sciences. This feast, which takes place once a year in all the colleges of America, is called Commencement, It resembles the exercises and distribution of prizes in our col- leges. It is a day of joy for Boston ; almost all its inhab- itants assemble in Cambridge. The most distinguished of the students display their talents in the presence of the pub- lic ; and these exercises, which are generally on patriotic subjects, are terminated by a feast, where reign the freest gayety and the most cordial fraternity." — Brissot^s Travels in U, S., 1788. London, 1794, Vol. I. pp. 85, 86. For an account of the chair from which the President delivers diplomas on Commencement Day, see President's Chair. At Yale College, the first Commencement was held Sep- tember 13th, 1702, while that institution was located at Say- brook, at which four young men who had before graduated at Harvard College, and one whose education had been pri- vate, received the degree of Master of Arts. This and sev- eral Commencements following were held privately, accord- ing to an act which had been passed by the Trustees, in order to avoid unnecessary expense and other inconveniences. In 1718, the year in which the first College edifice was complet- ed, was held at New Haven the first public Commencement. The following account of the exercises on this occasion was written at the time by one of the College officers, and is cited by President Woolsey in his Discourse before the Graduates of Yale College, August 14th, 1850. " [We were] favored and honored with the presence of his Honor, Gov- ernor Saltonstall, and his lady, and the Hon. Col. Taylor of Boston, and the Lieutenant-Governor, and the whole Superior Court, at our Commencement, September 10th, 1718, where the Trustees present, — those gentlemen being present, — in the hall of our new College, first most solemn- 6* 66 ' COLLEGE WORDS ly named our College by the name of Yale College, to per- j petuate the memory of the honorable Gov. Elihu Yale, Esq., of London, who had granted so liberal and bountiful a dona- tion for the perfecting and adorning of it. Upon which the honorable Colonel Taylor represented Governor Yale in a speech expressing his great satisfaction ; which ended, we passed to the church, and there the Commencement was carried on. In which affair, in the first place, after prayer an oration was had by the saluting orator, James Pierpont, and then the disputations as usual ; which concluded, the Rev. Mr. Davenport [one of the Trustees and minister of Stamford] offered an excellent oration in Latin, expressing their thanks to Almighty God, and Mr. Yale under him, for so public a favor and so great regard to our languishing school. After which were graduated ten young men, whereupon the Hon. Gov. Saltonstall, in a Latin speech, congratulated the Trustees in their success and in the com- fortable appearance of things with relation to their school. All which ended, the gentlemen returned to the College Hall, where they were entertained with a splendid dinner, and the ladies, at the same time, were also entertained in the Library ; after which they sung the four first verses in the 65th Psalm, and so the day ended." — p. 24. The following excellent and interesting account of the exercises and customs of Commencement at Yale College, in former times, is taken from the entertaining address re- ferred to above : — " Commencements were not to be pub- lic, according to the wishes of the first Trustees, through fear of the attendant expense ; but another practice soon pre- vailed, and continued with three or four exceptions until the breaking out of the war in 1775. They were then private for five years, on account of the times. The early exercises of the candidates for the first degree were a ' saluting ' oration in Latin, succeeded by syllogistic disputations in the same language ; and the day was closed by the Masters' exercises, — disputations and a valedictory. According to an ancient academical practice, theses were printed and dis- tributed upon this occasion, indicating what the candidates AND CUSTOMS. ffB for a degree had studied, and were prepared to defend ; yet, contrary to the usage still prevailing at universities which have adhered to the old method of testing proficiency, it does not appear that these theses were ever defended in public. They related to a variety of subjects in Technolo- gy, Logic, Grammar, Rhetoric, Mathematics, Physics, Meta- physics, Ethics, and afterwards Theology. The candidates for a Master's degree also published theses at this time, which were called QucesHones magistrales. The syllogistic disputes were held between an affirmant and respondent, who stood in the side galleries of the church opposite to one another, and shot the weapons of their logic over the heads of the audience. The saluting bachelor and the master who delivered the valedictory stood in the front gallery, and the audience huddled around below them to catch their Latin eloquence as it fell. It seems also to have been usual for the President to pronounce an oration in some foreign tongue upon the same occasion.* " At the first public Commencement under President Stiles, in 1781, we find* from a particular description which has been handed down, that the original plan, as above de- scribed, was subjected for the time to considerable modifica- tions. The scheme, in brief, was as follows : — The saluta- tory oration was delivered by a member of the graduating class, who is now our aged and honored townsman, Judge Baldwin. This was succeeded by the syllogistic disputa- tions, and these by a Greek oration, next to which came an English colloquy. Then followed a forensic disputation, in which James Kent was one of the speakers. Then Presi- dent Stiles delivered an oration in Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic, — it being an extraordinary occasion. After which the morning was closed with an English oration by one of the graduating class. In the afternoon, the candidates for the second degree had the time, as usual, to themselves, after a Latin discourse by President Stiles. The exhibiters appeared in syllogistic disputes, a dissertation, a poem, and * See under Thesis and Master's Question. 68 COLLEGE WORDS an English oration. Among these performers we find the names of Noah Wehsler, Joel Barlow, and Oliver Wolcott. Besides the Commencements there were exhibitions upon quarter-days, as they were called, in December and March, as well as at the end of the third term, when the younger classes performed ; and an exhibition of the Seniors in July, at the time of their examination for degrees, when the vale- dictory orator was one of their own choice. This oration was transferred to the Commencement about the year 1798, when the Masters' valedictories had fallen into disuse; and being in English, gave a new interest to the exercises of the day. " Commencements were long occasions of noisy mirth, and even of riot. The older records are full of attempts, on the part of the Corporation, to put a stop to disorder and extravagance at this anniversary. From a document of 1731, it appears that cannons had been fired in honor of the day, and students were now forbidden to have a share in this on pain of degradation. The same prohibition was found necessary again in 1755, at which time the practice had grown up of illuminating the College buildings upon Com- mencement eve. But the habit of drinking spirituous liquor, and of furnishing it to friends, on this public occasion, grew up into more serious evils. In the year 1737, the Trustees, having found that there was a great expense in spirituous distilled liquors upon Commencement occasions, ordered that for the future no candidate for a degree, or other stu- dent, should provide or allow any such liquors to be drunk in his chamber during Commencement week. And again, it was ordered in 1746, with the view of preventing several extravagant and expensive customs, that there should be ' no kind of public treat but on Commencement, quarter-days, and the day on which the valedictory oration was pro- nounced ; and on that day the Seniors may provide and give away a barrel of metheglin, and nothing more.' But the evil continued a long time. In 1760, it appears that it was usual for the graduating class to provide a pipe of wine, in the payment of which each one was forced to join. The Corporation now attempted by very stringent law to break AND CUSTOMS. 69 up this practice ; but the Senior Class having united in bringing large quantities of rum into College, the Com- mencement exercises were suspended, and degrees were withheld until after a public confession of the class. In the two next years degrees were given at the July examination, with a view to prevent such disorders, and no public Com- mencement was celebrated. Similar scenes are not known to have occurred afterwards, although for a long time that anniversary wore as much the aspect of a training-day as of a literary festival. " The Commencement Day in the modern sense of the term, — that is, a gathering of graduated members and of others drawn together by a common interest in the College, and in its young members who are leaving its walls, — has no counterpart that I know of in the older institutions of Europe. It arose by degrees out of the former exercises upon this occasion, with the addition of such as had been usual before upon quarter-days, or at the presentation in July. For a time several of the commencing Masters appeared on the stage to pronounce, orations, as they had done before. In process of time, when they had nearly ceased to exhibit, this anniversary began to assume a somewhat new feature 5 the peculiarity of which consists in this, that the graduates have a literary festival more peculiarly their own, in the shape of discourses delivered before their assembled body, or before some literary society," — Woolsey'^s Historical Discourse^ pp. 65 - 68. At Shelby College, Ky., it is customary at Commence- ment to perform plays, with appropriate costumes, at stated intervals during the exercises. An account of the manner in which Commencement has been observed at other colleges would only be a repetition of what has been stated above, in reference to Harvard and Yale. These being, the former the first, and the latter the third, insthution founded in our country, the colleges which were established at a later period grounded not only their laws, but to a great extent their customs, on the laws and customs which prevailed at Cambridge and New Haven. 70 COLLEGE WORDS COMMENCEMENT CARD. At Union College, there is issued annually at Commencement a card containing a pro- gramme of the exercises of the day, signed with the names of twelve of the Senior Class, who are members of the four principal college societies. These cards are worded in the form of invitations, and are to be sent to the friends of the students. To be " on the Commencement Card " is esteemed an honor, and is eagerly sought for. At other colleges, in- vitations are often issued at this period, usually signed by the President. COMMENCER. In American colleges, a member of the Senior Class, after the examination for degrees ; generally, one who commences. These exercises were, besides an oration usually made by the President, orations both salutatory and valedictory, made by some or other of the commencers. — Mather^ s Magnalia, B. IV. p. 128. The Corporation with the Tutors shall visit the chambers of the commencers to see that this law be well observed. — Peirce^s Hist, Harv. Univ., App., p. 137. Thirty commencers, besides Mr. Rogers, &c. — Ibid., App., p. 150. COMMISSARY. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., an officer under the Chancellor, and appointed by him, who holds a court of record for all privileged persons and schol- ars under the degree of M. A. In this court, all causes are tried and determined by the civil and statute law, and by the custom of the University. — Cam. CaL COMMON. To board together ; to eat at a table in common. COMMONER. A student of the second rank in the Univer- sity of Oxford, Eng., who is not dependent on the founda- tion for support, but pays for his board or commons, together with all other charges. Corresponds to a Pensioner at Cambridge. COMMON ROOM. The room to which all the members of the college have access. There is sometimes one common room for graduates, and another for undergraduates. — Cralb's Tech Did. AND CUSTOMS. 71 Oh, could the days once more but come, When calm I smoak'd in common room. The Student, Vol. I. p. 237. Oxf. and Cam., 1750. COMMONS. Food provided at a common table, as in col- leges, where many persons eat at the same table, or in the same hall. — Webster, |ii«i: Commons were introduced into Harvard College at its first establishment, in the year 1636, in imitation of the English universities, and from that time until the year 1849, when they were abolished, seem to have been a never-failing source of uneasiness and disturbance. While the infant College, with the title only of " school," was under the super- intendence of Mr. Nathaniel Eaton, its first " master," the badness of commons was one of the principal causes of complaint. " At no subsequent period of the College his- tory," says Mr. Quincy, " has discontent with commons been more just and well-founded, than under the hus- wifery of Mrs. Eaton." " It is perhaps owing," Mr. Win- throp observes in his History of New England, " to the gallantry of our fathers, that she was not enjoined in the perpetual malediction they bestowed on her husband." A few years after, we read, in the "Information given by the Corporation and Overseers to the General Court," a proposi- tion either to make " the scholars' charges less, or their commons better." For a long period after this we have no account of the state of commons, " but it is not probable," says Mr. Peirce, " they were materially different from what they have been since." * During the administration of President Holyoke, from 1737 to 1769, commons were the constant cause of disorders among the students. There appears to have been a very general permission to board in private families before the year 1737 : an attempt was then made to compel the under- graduates to board in commons. After many resolutions a law was finally passed, in 1760, prohibiting them " from dining or supping, in any house in town, except on an invi- tation to dine or sup gratis.'*'^ " The law," says Quincy, " was probably not very strictly enforced. It was limited to one year, and was not renewed." 72 COLLEGE WORDS An idea of the quality of commons may be formed from the following accounts furnished by Dr. Holyoke and Judge Wingate. According to the former of these gentlemen, who graduated in 1746, the " breakfast was two sizings of bread and a cue of beer" ; and " evening Commons were a pye." The latter, who graduated thirteen years after, says : " As to the Commons, there were in the morning none while I was in College. At dinner, we had, of rather ordi- nary quality, a sufficiency of meat of some kind, either baked or boiled ; and at supper, we had either a pint of milk and half a biscuit, or a meat pye of some other kind. Such were the Commons in the Hall in my day. They were rather ordinary ; but I was young and hearty, and could live comfortably upon them. I had some classmates who paid for their Commons and never entered the Hall while they belonged to the College. We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half pint, and a sizing of bread, which I cannot describe to you. It was quite sufficient for one dinner." By a vote of the Corporation in 1750, a law was passed, declaring " that the quantity of Commons be, as hath been usual, viz. two sizes of bread in the morning ; one pound of meat at dinner, with sufficient sauce " (vege- tables), " and a half a pint of beer ; and at night that a part pie be of the same quantity as usual, and also half a pint of beer ; and that the supper messes be but of four parts, though the dinner messes be of six." This agrees in sub- stance with the accounts given above. The consequence * of such diet was, " that the sons of the rich," says Mr. Quincy, " accustomed to better fare, paid for comnrions, which they would not eat, and never entered the hall ; while the students whose resources did not admit of such an evasion were perpetually dissatisfied." About ten years after, another law was made, " to restrain scholars from breakfasting in the houses of town's people," and provision was made " for their being accommodated with breakfast in the hall, either milk, chocolate, tea, or coffiie, as they should respectively choose." They were allowed, however, to provide themselves with breakfasts in AND CUSTOMS. 78 their own chambers, but not to breakfast in one another's chambers. From this period breakfast was as regularly- provided in Commons as dinner, but it was not until about the year 1807 that an evening meal was also regularly pro- vided. In the year 1765, after the erection of Hollis Hall, the accommodations for students within the walls were greatly enlarged, and the inconvenience being thus removed which those had experienced who, living out of the College build- ings, were compelled to eat in commons, a system of laws was passed, by which all who occupied rooms within the College walls were compelled to board constantly in Com- mons, " the officers to be exempted only by the Corpora- tion, with the consent of the Overseers ; the students by the President, only when they were about to be absent for at least one week." Scarcely a year had passed under this new regime^ " before," says Quincy, " an open revolt of the students took place on account of the provisions, which it took more than a month to quell." " Although," he con- tinues, " their proceedings were violent, illegal, and insult- ing, yet the records of the immediate government show un- questionably, that the disturbances, in their origin, were not wholly without cause, and that they were aggravated by want of early attention to very natural and reasonable com- plaints." During the war of the American Revolution, the difficulty of providing satisfactory commons was extreme, as may be seen from the following vote of the Corporation, passed Aug. 11th, 1777. " Whereas by law 9ih of Chap. VI. it is provided, ' that there shall always be chocolate, tea, coffee, and milk for breakfast, with bread and biscuit and butter,' and whereas the foreign articles above mentioned are now not to be procured whhout great difficulty, and at a very exorbitant price ; therefore, that the charge of Commons may be kept as low as possible, — " Voted, That the Steward shall provide at the common charge only bread or biscuit and milk for breakfast ; and, 7 74 COLLEGE WORDS if any of the scholars choose tea, coffee, or chocolate for breakfast, they shall procure those articles for themselves, and likewise the sugar and butter to be used with them ; and if any scholars choose to have their milk boiled, or thickened with flour, if it may be had, or with meal, the Steward, having seasonable notice, shall provide it ; and further, as salt fish alone is appointed by the aforesaid law for the dinner on Saturdays, and this article is now risen to a very high price, and through the scarcity of salt will probably be higher, the Steward shall not be obliged to pro- vide salt fish, but shall procure fresh fish as often as he can." — Qaincy^s Hist. Harv. TJniv.^ Vol. II. p. 541. Many of the facts in the following account of commons prior to, and immediately succeeding, the year 1800, have been furnished by Mr. Royal Morse of Cambridge. The hall where the students took their meals was usual- ly provided with ten tables ; at each table were placed two messes, and each mess consisted of eight persons. The tables where the Tutors and Seniors sat were raised eighteen or twenty inches, so as to overlook the rest. It was the duty of one of the Tutors or of the Librarian to " ask a blessing and return thanks," and in their absence, the duty devolved on " the senior graduate or under- graduate." The waiters were students, chosen from the difierent classes, and receiving for their services suitable compensation. Each table was waited on by members of the class which occupied it, with the exception of the Tutor's table, at which members of the Senior Class served. Un- like the sizars and servitors at the English universities, the waiters were usually much respected, and were in many cases the best scholars in their respective classes. The breakfast consisted of a specified quantity of coffee, a size of baker's biscuit, which was one biscuit, and a size of butter, which was about an ounce. If any one wished for more than was provided, he was obliged to size it, i. e. order from the kitchen or buttery, and this was charged as extra Commons or sizings in the quarter-bill. At dinner, every mess was served with eight pounds of AND CUSTOMS. 75 meat, allowing a pound to each person. On Monday and Thursday the meat was boiled ; these days were on this ac- count commonly called " boiling days." On the other days the meat was roasted ; these were accordingly named " roasting days." Two potatoes were allowed to each per- son, which he was obliged to pare for himself. On boiling days^ pudding and cabbage were added to the bill of fare, and in their season, greens, either dandelion or the wild pea. Of bread, a size was the usual quantity apiece, at din- ner. Cider was the common beverage, of which there was no stated allowance, but each could drink as much as he chose. It was brought on in pewter quart cans, two to a mess, out of which they drank, passing them from mouth to mouth like the English wassail-bowl. The waiters replen- ished them as soon as they were emptied. No regular supper was provided, but a bowl of milk, and a size of bread procured at the kitchen, supplied the place of the evening meal. A writer in the New England Magazine, referring to the same period, says : " In commons, we fared as well as one half of us had been accustomed to at home. Our breakfast consisted of a good-sized biscuit of wheaten flour, with butter and cofl^ee, chocolate, or milk, at our option. Our dinner was served up on dishes of pewter, and our drink, which was cider, in cans of the same material. For our suppers, we went with our bowls to the kitchen, and received our rations of milk, or chocolate, and bread, and returned with them to our rooms." — Vol. III. p. 239. Although much can be said in favor of the commons sys- tem, on account of its economy and its suitableness to health and study, yet these very circumstances which were its chief recommendation were the occasion also of all the odium which it had to encounter. " That simplicity," says Peirce, " which makes the fare cheap, and wholesome, and philosophical, renders it also unsatisfactory to dainty palates ; and the occasional appearance of some unlucky meat, or other food, is a signal for a general outcry against the pro- visions." In the plain but emphatic words of one who was 76 COLLEGE WORDS acquainted with the state of commons, as they once were at Harvard College, " the butter was sometimes so bad, that a farmer would not take it to grease his cart-wheels with." It was the usual practice of the Steward, when veal was cheap, to furnish it to the students three, four, and some- times five times in the week ; the same with reference to other meats when they could be bought at a low price, and especially with lamb. The students, after eating this latter kind of meat for five or six successive weeks, would often I assemble before the Steward's house, and, as if their natures j; had been changed by their diet, would bleat and blatter 1^ until he was fain to promise them a change of food, upon which they would separate until a recurrence of the same evil compelled them to the same measures. The annexed account of commons at Yale College, in for- mer times, is given by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse, pronounced at New Haven, August 14th, 1850. " At first, a college without common meals was hardly conceived of; and, indeed, if we trace back the history of colleges as they grew up at Paris, nothing is more of their essence than that students lived and ate together in a kind of conventual system. No doubt, also, when the town of New Haven was smaller, it was far more difficult to find desira- ble places for boarding than at present. But however ne- cessary, the Steward's department was always beset with difficulties and exposed to complaints which most gentle- men present can readily understand. The following rations of commons, voted by the Trustees in 1742, will show the state of college fare at that time. ' Ordered, that the Stew- ard shall provide the commons for the scholars as follows, viz. : — For breakfast, one loaf of bread for four, which [the dough] shall weigh one pound. For dinner for four, one loaf of bread as aforesaid, two and a half pounds beef, veal, or mutton, or one and three quarter pounds salt pork about twice a week in the summer time, one quart of beer, two pennyworth of sauce [vegetables]. For supper for four, two quarts of milk and one loaf of bread, when milk can conveniently be had, and when it cannot, then apple-pie, AND CUSTOMS. T7 which shall be made of one and three fourth pounds dough, one quarter pound hog's fat, two ounces sugar, and half a peck apples.' In 1759 we find, from a vote prohibiting the practice, that beer had become one of the articles allowed for the evening meal. Soon after this, the evening meal was discontinued, and, as is now the case in the English colleges, the students had supper in their own rooms, which led to extravagance and disorder. In the Revolutionary war the Steward was quite unable once or twice to provide food for the College, and this, as has already appeared, led to the dispersion of the students in 1776 and 1777, and once again in 1779 delayed the beginning of the winter term several weeks. Since that time, nothing peculiar has occurred with regard to Commons, and they continued with all their evils of coarse manners and wastefulness for sixty years. The conviction, meanwhile, was increasing, that they were no essential part of the College, that on the score of economy they could claim no advantage, that they degraded the man- ners of students and fomented disorder. The experiment of suppressing them has hitherto been only a successful one. No one, who can retain a lively remembrance of the com- mons and the manners as they were both before and since the building of the new Hall in 1819, will wonder that this resolution was adopted by the authorities of the College." — pp. 70-72. The above account of commons applies generally to the system as it was carried out in the other colleges in the United States. In almost every college, commons have been abolished, and with them have departed the discords, dissatisfactions, and open revolts of which they were so often the cause. COMPOSUIST. A writer ; composer. " This extraordinary word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, " has been m.uch used at some of our colleges, but very seldom else- where. It is now rarely heard among us. A correspond- ent observes, that ' it is used in England among musicians,'* I have never met with it in any English publications upon the subject of music." 7* 78 COLLEGE WORDS The word is not found, I believe, in any dictionary of the English tongue. COMPOUNDER. One at a university who pays extraordi- nary fees, according to his means, for the degree he is to take. A Grand Compounder pays double fees. See the Customs and Laws of Univ. of Cam.^ Eng.^ p. 297. CONCIO AD CLERUM. A sermon to the clergy. In the English universities, an exercise or Latin sermon, which is required of every candidate for the degree of D. D. Used sometimes in America. In the evening the ^^concio ad clerum^^ will be preached. — Yak Lit. Mag., Vol. XII. p. 426. CONDITION. A student on being examined for admission to college, if found deficient in certain studies, is admitted on condition he will make up the deficiency, if it is believed on the whole that he is capable of pursuing the studies of the class for which he is offered. The branches in which he is deficient are called conditions. Talks of Bacchus and tobacco, short sixes, sines, transitions, And Alma Mater takes him in on ten or twelve conditions. Poem before Y. H. Sac, Harv. ColL Praying his guardian powers To assist a poor Sub Fresh at the dread Examination, And free from all conditions to insure his first vacation. Poem before ladma, Harv. Coll, CONFESSION. It was formerly the custom in the older American colleges, when a student had rendered himself obnoxious to punishment, provided the crime was not of an aggravated nature, to pardon and restore him to his place in the class, on his presenting a confession of his fault to be read publicly in the hall. The Diary of President Lev- erett, of Harvard College, under date of the 20th of March, 1714, contains an interesting account of the confession of Larnel, an Indian student belonging to the Junior Sophister class, who had been guilty of some offence for which he had been dismissed from college. " He remained," says Mr. Leverett, " a considerable time AND CUSTOMS. 79 at Boston, in a state of penance. He presented his confes- sion to Mr. Pemberton, who thereupon became his interces- sor, and in his letter to the President expresses himself thus: ' This comes by Larnel, who brings a confession as good as Austin's, and 1 am charitably disposed to hope it flows from a like spirit of penitence.' In the public reading of his confession, the flowing of his passions was extraordinarily timed, and his expressions accented, and most peculiarly and emphatically those of the grace of God to him ; which in- deed did give a peculiar grace to the performance itself, and raised, I believe, a charity in some that had very little I am sure, and ratified wonderfully that which I had conceived of him. Having made his public confession, he was restored to his standing in the College." — Quincy'^s Hist, Harv, TJniv,, Vol. I. pp. 443, 444. CONGREGATION. At Oxford and Cambridge, the assembly of Masters and Doctors for transacting the ordinary business of conferring degrees, electing officers, passing graces and dispensations, &c. — Cam. and Oxf, Cats, CONSERVATOR. An officer who has the charge of pre- serving the rights and privileges of a city, corporation, or community, as in Roman Catholic universities. — Webster, CONSISTORY COURT. In the University of Cambridge, England, there is a consistory court of the Chancellor and of the Commissary. " For the former," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " the Chancellor, and in his absence the Vice- Chancellor, assisted by some of the heads of houses, and one or more doctors of the civil law, administers justice desired by any member of the University, &c. In the latter, the Commissary acts by authority given him under the seal of the Chancellor, as well in the University as at Stourbridge and Midsummer fairs, and takes cognizance of all offences, &c. The proceedings are the same in both courts." CONVENTION. In the University of Cambridge, England, a court consisting of the Master and Fellows of a college, who sit in the Combination Room^ and pass sentence on any 80 COLLEGE WORDS young offender against the laws of soberness and chastity. — Gradus ad Cantahrigiam. CONVICTOR. Latin, a familiar acquaintance. In the Uni- versity of Oxford, those are called convictores who, although not belonging to the foundation of any college or hall, have at any time been regents, and have constantly kept their names on the books of some colfege or hall, from the time of their admission to the degree of A. M., or Doctors in either of the three faculties. — Oxf. Cal, CONVOCATION. In the University of Oxford, England, an academical assembly, the business of which extends to all subjects connected with the credit, interest, and welfare of the University, a restriction only being prescribed to the enacting of new and the explaining of old statutes. In the University of Cambridge, England, an assembly of the Senate out of term time is called a convocation. In such a case a grace is immediately passed to convert the convoca- tion into a congregation, after which the business proceeds as usual. — Oxf. and Cam, Cals. COPUS. " Of mighty ale, a large quarte." — Chancer, The word copus and the beverage itself are both exten- sively used among the 7nen of the University of Cambridge, England. " The conjecture," says the Gradus ad Canta- hrigiam, " is surely ridiculous and senseless, that Copus is contracted from Episcopus, a bishop, ' a mixture of wine, oranges, and sugar.' A copus of ale is a common fine at the student's table in Hall for speaking Latin, or for some similar impropriety." CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. In the older American col- leges, corporal punishment was formerly sanctioned by law, and several instances remain on record which show that its infliction was not of rare occurrence. Among the laws, rules, and scholastic forms established between the years 1642 and 1646, by Mr. Dunster, the first President of Harvard College, occurs the following : " Siquis scholarium ullam Dei et hujus Collegii legem, sive animo AND CUSTOMS. 81 perverso, sen ex supina negligentia, violarit, postquam fuerit bis admonitus, si non adultus, virgis coerceatur, sin adultus, ad Inspectores Collegii deferendus erit, ut publice in eum pro meritis animadversio fiat." In the year 1656, this law was strengthened by another, recorded by Quincy, in these words : " It is hereby ordered that the President and Fel- lows of Harvard College, for the time being, or the major part of them, are hereby empowered, according to their best discretion, to punish all misdemeanors of the youth in their ; society, either by fine, or whipping in the Hall openly^ as the nature of the offence shall require, not exceeding ten shillings or ten stripes for one offence ; and this law to con- tinue in force until this Court or the Overseers of the Col- lege provide some other order to punish such offences." — Quincy'' s Hist. Harv, Univ.^ Vol. I. pp. 578, 513. A knowledge of the existence of such laws as the above is in some measure a preparation for the following relation given by Mr. Peirce in his History of Harvard University. " At the period when Harvard College was founded," says that gentleman, "one of the modes of punishment in the great schools of England and other parts of Europe was corporal chastisement. It was accordingly introduced here, and was, no doubt, frequently put in practice. An instance of its infliction, as part of the sentence upon an offender, is presented in Judge Sewall's MS. Diary, with the particulars of a ceremonial, which was reserved probably for special occasions. His account will afford some idea of the man- ners and spirit of the age : — " ' June 15, 1674, Thomas Sargeant was examined by the Corporation finally. The advice of Mr. Danforth, Mr. Stoughton, Mr. Thacher, Mr. Mather (the present), was taken. This was his sentence : " ' That being convicted of speaking blasphemous words concerning the H. G., he should be therefore publickly whipped before all the scholars. " ' 2. That he should be suspended as to taking his degree of Bachelor. (This sentence read before him twice at the President's before the Committee and in the Library, before execution.) 82 COLLEGE WORDS " ' 3. Sit alone by himself in the Hall uncovered at meals, during the pleasure of the President and Fellows, and be in all things obedient, doing what exercise was appointed him by the President, or else be finally expelled the College. The first was presently put in execution in the Library (Mr. Danforth, Jr. being present) before the scholars. He kneeled down, and the instrument, Goodman Hely, attended the President's word as to the performance of his part in the work. Prayer was had before and after by the President, July 1, 1674.' " " Men's ideas," continues Mr. Peirce, " must have been very different from those of the present day, to have toler- ated a law authorizing so degrading a treatment of the mem- bers of such a society. It may easily be imagined what complaints and uneasiness its execution must frequently have occasioned among the friends and connections of those who were the subjects of it. In one instance it even occa- sioned the prosecution of a Tutor ; but this was as late as 1733, when old rudeness had lost much of the people's reverence. The law, however, was suffered, with some modification, to continue more than a century. In the re- vised body of Laws made in the year 1734, we find this article : ' Notwithstanding the preceding pecuniary mulcts, it shall be lawful for the President, Tutors, and Professors, to punish Undergraduates by Boxing, when they shall judge the nature or circumstances of the offence call for it.' This relic of barbarism, however, was growing more and more repugnant to the general taste and sentiment. The late venerable Dr. Holyoke, who was of the class of 1746, ob- served, that in his day ' corporal punishment was going out oFuse'; and at length it was expunged from the code, never, we trust, to be recalled from the rubbish of past ab- surdities." — pp. 227, 228. The last movements which were made in reference to corporal punishment are thus stated by President Qulncy, in his History of Harvard University. " In July, 1755, the Overseers voted, that it [the right of boxing] should be ' taken away.' The Corporation, however, probably re- AND CUSTOMS. 83 garded it as too important an instrument of authority to be for ever abandoned, and voted, ' that it should be suspended, as to the execution of it, for one year.' When this vote came before the Overseers for their sanction, the board hesi- tated, and appointed a large committee ' to consider and make report what punishments they apprehend proper to be substituted instead of boxing, in case it be thought expedient to repeal or suspend the law which allows or establishes the same.' From this period the law disappeared, and the prac- tice was discontinued." — Vol. II. p. 134. , The manner in which corporal punishment Vas formerly inflicted at Yale College is stated by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse, delivered at New Haven, August, 1850. After speaking of the methods of punishing by fines and degradation, he thus proceeds to this topic : " There was a still more remarkable punishment, as it must strike the men of our times, and which, although for some reason or other no traces of it exist in any of our laws so far as I have discovered, was in accordance with the ' good old plan,' pursued probably ever since the origin of universities. I refer — ' horresco referens ' — to the punishment of box- ing or cuffing. It was applied before the Faculty to the luckless offender by the President, towards whom the culprit, in a standing position, inclined his head, while blows fell in quick succession upon either ear. No one seems to have been served in this way except Freshmen and commencing ' Sophimores.' * I do not find evidence that this usage much survived the first jubilee of the College. One of the few known instances of it, which is on other accounts re- markable, was as follows : A student in the first quarty of his Sophomore year, havihg committed an offence for which he had been boxed when a Freshman, was ordered to be boxed again, and to have the additional penalty of acting as butler's waiter for one week. On presenting himself, more academico, for the purpose of having his ears boxed, and while the blow was falling, he dodged and fled from the * The old way of spelling the word Sophomore, q. v. 84 COLLEGE WORDS room and the College. The beadle was thereupon ordered to try to find him, and to command him to keep himself out of College and out of the yard, and to appear at prayers the next evening, there to receive further orders. He was then publicly admonished and suspended ; but in four days after submitted to the punishment adjudged, which was according- ly inflicted, and upon his public confession his suspension was taken off. Such public confessions, now unknown, were then exceedingly common." After referring to the instance mentioned above, in which corporal piiffishment was inflicted at Harvard College, the author speaks as follows, in reference to the same subject, as connected with the English universities. " The excerpts from the body of Oxford statutes, printed in the very year when this College was founded, threaten corporal punish- ment to persons of the proper age, — that is, below the age of eighteen, — for a variety of offences ; and among the rest for disrespect to Seniors, for frequenting places where ' vinum aut quivis alius potus aut herba Nicotiana ordinarie venditur,' for coming home to their rooms after the great Tom or bell of Christ's Church had sounded, and for play- ing football within the University precincts or in the city streets. But the statutes of Trinity College, Cambridge, contain more remarkable rules, which are in theory still valid, although obsolete in fact. All the scholars, it is there said, who are absent from prayers, — Bachelors excepted, — if over eighteen years of age, ' shall be fined a half- penny, but if they have not completed the year of their age above mentioned, they shall be chastised with rods in the h^ on Friday.' At this chastisement all undergraduates were required to be lookers on, the Dean having the rod of punishment in his hand ; and it was provided also, that who- soever should not answer to his name on this occasion, if a boy, should be flogged on Saturday. No doubt this rigor towards the younger members of the society was handed down from the monastic forms which education took in the earlier schools of the Middle Ages. And an advance in the age of admission, as well as a change in the tone of treat- AND CUSTOMS. 85 ment of the young may account for this system being laid aside at the universities ; although, as is well known, it con- tinues to flourish at the great public schools of England." — pp. 49 - 51. CORPORATION. The general government of colleges and universities is usually vested in a corporation aggregate, which is preserved by a succession of members. "The President and Fellows of Harvard College," says Mr. Quin- cy in his History of Harvard University, " being the only Corporation in the Province, and so continuing during the whole of the seventeenth century, they early assumed, and had by common usage conceded to them, the name of" The Corporation^'''^ by which they designate themselves in all the early records. Their proceedings are recorded as being done ' at a meeting of the Corporation^'^ or introduced by the formula, ' It is ordered by the Corporation^^ without stat- ing the number or the names of the members present, until April 19th, 1675, when, under President Oakes, the names of those present were first entered on the records, and after- wards they were frequently, though not uniformly, inserted." — Vol. I. p. 274. CORK. ) In some of the Southern colleges, this word, with CALK. \ a derived meaning, signifies a complete stopper. Used in the sense of an entire failure in reciting ; an utter inability to answer an instructor's interrogatories. COURTS. At Cambridge, England, the squares or acres into which each college is divided. Called at Oxford, quad- rangles, abbreviated, quads. — Gradus ad Cantah. CRAM. To prepare a student to pass an examination*; to study in view of examination. In the latter sense used in American colleges. In the latter [Euclid] it is hardly possible, at least not near so easy as in Logic, to present the semblance of preparation by learn- ing questions and answers by rote : — in the cant phrase of under- graduates, by getting crammed. — Whately's Logic, Preface. For many weeks he " crams''^ him, — • daily does he rehearse. Poem before the ladma of Hurv, Coll., 1850. 8 86 COLLEGE WORDS In a wider sense, to prepare another, or one's self, by study for any occasion. The members of the bar were lounging about that tabooed precinct, some smoking, some talking and laughing, some poring over long, ill-written papers or large calf-bound books, and all big with the ponderous interests depending upon them, and the eloquence and learning with which they were " crammec? " for the occasion. — Talbot and Vernon. When he was to write it was necessary to cram him with the facts and points. — F, K, HunVs Fourth Estate, 1850. CRAM. The same as Cramming, which see. I have made him promise to give me four or five evenings of about half an hour's cram each. — Collegian^ s Guide, p. 240. 2. A paper on which is written something necessary to be learned, previous to an examination. **Take care what you light your cigars with," said Belton, " you '11 be burning some of Tufton's crams : they are stuck all about the pictures." — Collegian^ s Guide, p. 223. He puzzled himself with his crams he had in his pocket, and copied what he did not understand. — Ibid., p. 279. CRAMBAMBULI. A favorite drink among the students in the German universities, composed of burnt rum and sugar. (£ r a m b a m b u ( t, ba£f tfl t>er Xitet 2)eif Xranf^/ bee ftctj bei un^ be\T?a()rt. Drinking song. To the next ! let 's have the crambambuli first, however. — Yale Lit. Mfl^., Vol. XII. p. 117. CRx\M BOOK. A book in which are laid down such topics as constitute an examination, together with the requisite an- swers to the questions proposed on that occasion. He in consequence engages a private tutor, and buys all the cram books published for the occasion. — Gradus ad Cantab. p. 128. CRAM MAN. One who is cramming for an examination. He has read all the black-lettered divinity in the Bodleian, and says that none of the cram men shall have a chance with him. — Collegian'' s Guide, p. 274. AND CUSTOMS. 8f CRAMMER. One who prepares another for an examination. The qualifications of a crammer are given in the follow- ing extract from the Collegian's Guide. " The first point, therefore, in which a crammer differs from other tutors is in the selection of subjects. While another tutor would teach every part of the books given up, he virtually re- duces their quantity, dwelling chiefly on the ' likely parts.' " The second point in which a crammer excels is in fixing the attention, and reducing subjects to the comprehension of ill-formed and undisciplined minds. " The third qualification of a crammer is a happy man- ner and address, to encourage the desponding, to animate the idle, and to make the exertions of the pupil continually increase in such a ratio, that he shall be wound up to concert pitch by the day of entering the schools." — pp. 231, 232. CRAMMING. A cant term, in the British universities, for the act of preparing a student to pass an examination, by going over the topics with him beforehand, and furnishing him with the requisite answers. — Webster, The author of the Collegian's Guide, speaking of exami- nations, says : " First, we must observe that all examinations imply the existence of examiners, and examiners, like other mortal beings, lie open to the frauds of designing men, through the uniformity and sameness of their proceedings. This uniformity inventive men have analyzed and reduced to a system, founding thereon a certain science, and corre- sponding art, called Cramming.'^'' — p. 229. I shall never forget the torment I suffered in cramming long les- sons in Greek Grammar. — Dickens^s Household Words^ Vol. I. p. 192. CRAM PAPER. A paper in which are inserted such ques- tions as are generally asked at an examination. The man- ner in which these questions are obtained is explained in the following extract. " Every pupil, after his examination, comes to thank him as a matter of course ; and as every man, you know, is loquacious enough on such occasions, 88 COLLEGE WORDS Tufton gets out of him all the questions he was asked in the schools ; and according to these questions, he has moulded his cram papers.'*'* — Collegiari's Gtiide^ p. 239. CROWS- FOOT. At Harvard College a badge formerly worn on the sleeve, resembling a crow's foot, to denote the class to which a student belongs. In the regulations passed April 29, 1822, for establishing the style of dress among the students at Harvard College, we find the following. A part of the dress shall be " three crows-feet, made of black silk cord, on the lower part of the sleeve of a Senior, two on that of a junior, and one on that of a Sophomore." The Freshmen were not allowed to wear the crows-foot, and the custom is now discontinued, although an unsuccessful at- tempt was made to revive it a few years ago. The Freshman scampers off at the first bell for the chapel, where, finding no brother student of a higher class to encourage his punctuality, he crawls back to watch the starting of some one blessed with a crows-foot, to act as vanguard. — Harv, Reg. p. 377. The corded crows-feet, and the collar square, The change and chance of earthly lot must share. Class Poem at Harv. Coll, 1835, p. 18. What if the creature should arise, — For he was stout and tall, — And swallow down a Sophomore, Coat, crows-foot, cap, and all. Holmes's Poems, 1850, p. 109. A small portion of bread or beer ; a term formerly current in both the English universities, the letter q being the mark in the buttery books to denote such a Q would seem to stand for quadrans^ a farthing ; but Minsheu says it was only half that sum, and thus partic- ularly explains it : " Because they set down in the battling or butterie bookes in Oxford and Cambridge, the letter q for half a farthing ; and in Oxford when they make that cue or q a farthing, they say, cap my q, and make it a farthing, thus, ;. But in Cambridge they use this letter, a little f ; thus, f, or thus, s, for a farthing." He translates it in Latin AND CUSTOMS. ^ calculus pants. Coles has, " A cue [half a farthing] minu- tum." — Nares'^s Glossary, " A cue of bread," says Halliwell, " is the fourth part of a half-penny crust. A cue of beer, one draught." J. Woods, under-butler of Christ Church, Oxon, said he would never sitt capping of cues. — TJrry^s MS. add. to Ray. You are still at Cambridge with size kiie. — Orig. of Dr,, iii. p. 271. He never drank above size q of Helicon. — Eachard, Contempt of CI., 1^.26. " Cues and cees," says Nares, " are generally mentioned together, the cee meaning a small measure of beer ; but why, is not equally explained." From certain passages in which they are used interchangeably, the terms do not seem to have been well defined. Hee [the college butler] domineers over freshmen, when they first come to the hatch, and puzzles them with strange language of cues and cees, and some broken Latin, which he has learnt at his bin. — Earless Micro-cosmo graphic, (1628,) Char. 17. The word cue was formerly used at Harvard College. Dr. Holyoke, who graduated in 1746, says, the '* breakfast was two sizings of bread and a cue of beer." Judge Win- gate, who graduated thirteen years after, says : " We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint." CURL. In the University of Virginia, to make a perfect reci- tation ; to overwhelm a Professor with student learning. CUT. To be absent from a recitation or any college exercise. Thus, a person is said to " cut prayers," to " cut lecture," &c. Also, to " cut Greek " or " Latin " ; i. e. to be absent from the Greek or Latin recitation. Another use of the word is, when one says, " I cut Dr. B , or Prof. C , this morning," meaning that he was absent from their exer- cises. Prepare to cut recitations, cut prayers, cut lectures, — ay, to cut even the President himself. — Oration before H, L. of 1. O. of O. F., 1848. Next morn he cuts his maiden prayer, to his last night's text abid- ing. — Poem before F. H. of Harv. Coll., 1849. 8* 90 COLLEGE WORDS This word is much used in the University of Cambridge, England, as appears from the following extract from a letter in the Gentleman's Magazine, written with reference to some of the customs there observed : — "I remarked, also, that they frequently used the words to cut^ and to sport, in senses to me totally unintelligible. A man had been cut in chapel, cut at afternoon lectures, cut in his tutor's rooms, cut at a concert, cut at a ball, &c. Soon, however, I was told of men, vice versa^ who cut a figure, cut chapel, cut gates, cut lectures, cut hall, cut examinations, cut particular connections ; nay, more, I was informed of some who cut their tutors ! " — Gent. Mag., 1794, p. 1085. The instances in which the verb to cut is used in the above extract without Italics, are now very common both in Eng- land and America. To cut Gates. To enter college after ten o'clock, — the hour of shutting them. — Gradu3 ad Cantab., p 40. The two rudimentary lectures which he was at first forced to at- tend, are now pressed less earnestly upon his notice. In fact, he can almost entirely " cw^" them, if he likes, and does cut them accord- ingly, as a waste of time. — Household Words, Vol. II. p. 160. CUT. An omission of a recitation. This phrase is frequently heard : *' We had a cut to-day in Greek," i. e. no recitation in Greek. Again, " Prof. D gave us a cut," i. e. he had no recitation. A correspondent from Bowdoin Col- lege gives in the following sentence the manner in which this word is there used. " Cuts. When a class for any reason become dissatisfied with one of the Faculty, they absent themselves from his recitation, as an expression of their feelings." AND CUSTOMS. 91 D. D. C. L. An abbreviation for Doctor Civilis Legis, Doctor in Civil Law. At the University of Oxford, England, this degree is conferred five years after receiving the degree of A. B. The exercises are three lectures. D. D. An abbreviation of Divinitatis Doctor^ Doctor in Di- vinity. At the University of Cambridge, England, this degree is conferred on a B. D. of five, or an A. M. of twelve years' standing. The exercises are one act, two opponen- cies, a clerum, and an English sermon. At Oxford it is given to a B. D. of four, or an A. M. of eleven years' stand- ing. The exercises are three lectures. In American col- leges this degree is honorary, and is conferred pro meritis^ on those who are distinguished as theologians. DEAD. To be unable to recite ; to be ignorant of the lesson ; to declare one's self unprepared to recite. Be ready, in fine, to cut, to drink, to smoke, to dead. — Oration before H. L, of I. O. of O. F,, 1848. I see our whole lodge desperately striving to dead, by doing that hardest of all work, nothing. — Ibid., 1849. Transitively ; to cause one to fail in reciting. Said of a teacher who puzzles a scholar with difficult questions, and thereby causes him to fail. Have I been screwed, yea, deaded morn and eve, Some dozen moons of this collegiate life, And not yet taught me to philosophize 1 Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 255. DEAD. A complete failure ; a declaration that one is not prepared to recite. One must stand up in the singleness of his ignorance to under- stand all the mysterious feelings connected with a c?eac?. — Harv, Reg., p. 378. And fearful of the morrow's screw or dead, Takes book and candle underneath his bed. Class Poem, by B, D, Winslow, at Harv. Coll, 1835, p. 10. 92 COLLEGE WORDS He, unmoved by Freshman's curses, Loves the deads which Freshmen make. — MS. Poem. It was formerly customary in many colleges, and is now in a few, to talk about *' taking a dead." I have a most instinctive dread Of getting up to take a dead, Unworthy degradation ! — Harv, Reg., p. 312. DEAD-SET. The same as a Dead, which see. Now 's the day and now 's the hour ; See approach Old Sikes's power ; See the front of Logic lower ; Screws, dead sets, and fines. — Rehelliad, p. 52. Grose has this word in his Slang Dictionary, and defines it " a concerted scheme to defraud a person by gaming." " This phrase," says Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Ameri- canisms, " seems to be taken from the lifeless attitude of a pointer in marking his game." " The lifeless attitude " seems to be the only point of re- semblance between the above definitions, and the appear- ance of one who is taking a dead set. The word has of late years been displaced by the more general use of the word dead^ with the same meaning. DEAN. An officer in each college of the universities in Eng- land, whose duties consist in the due preservation of the college discipline. " Old Holingshed," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " in his Chronicles, describing Cambridge, speaks of ' certain censors, or deanes, appointed to looke to the behaviour and manner of the Students there, whom they punish very se- verely^ if they make any default, according to the quantitye and qualitye of their trespasses.' When fiagellation was enforced at the Universities, the Deans were the Ministers of Vengeance." tn the older American colleges, whipping and cuffing were inflicted by a tutor, professor, or presi- dent ; the latter, however, usually employed an agent for this purpose. See under Corporal Punishment. AND CUSTOMS. 93 2. In the United States, a registrar of the faculty in some colleges, and especially in medical institutions. — Webster, A dean may also be appointed by the Faculty of each Profes- sional School, if deemed expedient by the Corporation. — Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass., 1848, p. 8. DEAN'S BOUNTY. In 1730, the Rev. Dr. George Berke- ley, then Dean of Derry, in Ireland, came to America, and resided a year or two at Newport, Rhode Island, " where," says Clap, in his History of Yale College, " he purchased a country seat, with about ninety-six acres of land." On his re- turn to London, in 1733, he sent a deed of his farm in Rhode Island to Yale College, in which it was ordered, " that the rents of the farm should be appropriated to the maintenance of the three best scholars in Greek and Latin, who should reside at College at least nine months in a year, in each of the three years between their first and second degrees." President Clap further remarks, that " this Premium has been a great incitement to a laudable ambition to excel in the knowledge of the classics." It was commonly known as the Dearies bounty. — Clap^s Hist, of Yale Coll.^ pp. 37, 38. The Dean afterwards conveyed to it [Yale College], by a deed transmitted to Dr. Johnson, his Rhode Island farm, for the estab- lishment of that Dean^s bounty, to which sound classical learning in Connecticut has been much indebted. — Hist. Sketch of Colum- bia Coll., p. 19. DEAN SCHOLAR. The person who received the money appropriated by Dean Berkeley was called the Dean scholar. This premium was formerly called the Dean's bounty, and the person who received it the Dean scholar. — Sketches of Yale Coll, p. 87. DECENT. Tolerable ; pretty good. He is a decent scholar ; a decent writer ; he is nothing more than decent. " This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, " has been in common use at some of our colleges, but only in the lan- guage of conversation. The adverb decently (and possibly the adjective also) is sometimes used in a similar manner in some parts of Great Britain." 94 COLLEGE WORDS The greater part of the pieces it contains may be said to be very decently written. — Edinb. Rev,, Vol. I. p. 426. DECLAMATION. The word is applied especially to the public speaking and speeches of students in colleges, prac- tised for exercises in oratory. — Webster, It would appear by the following extract from the old laws of Harvard College, that original declamations were formerly required of the students. " The Undergraduates shall in their course declaim publicly in the hall, in one of the three learned languages ; and in no other without leave or direction from the President, and immediately give up their declamations fairly written to the President. And he that neglects this exercise shall be punished by the President or Tutor that calls over the weekly bill, not exceeding five shillings. And such delinquent shall within one week after give in to the President a written declamation subscribed by himself." — Laws 1734, in Peirce^s Hist, Harv, Univ,^ App., p. 129. DECLAMATION BOARDS. At Bowdoin College, small establishments in the rear of each building, for urinary pur- poses. DEDUCTION. In some of the American colleges, one of the minor punishments for non-conformity with laws and regu- lations is deducting from the marks which a student receives for recitations and other exercises, and by which his stand- ing in the class is determined. DEGRADATION. In the older American colleges, it was formerly customary to arrange the members of each class in an order determined by the rank of the parent. " Deg- radation consisted in placing a student on the list, in conse- quence of some offence, below the level to which his father's condition would assign him ; and thus declared that he had disgraced his family." In the Immediate Government Book, No. IV., of Harvard College, date July 20th, 1776, is the following entry : " Voted, that Trumbal, a Middle Bachelor, who was de- graded to the bottom of his class for his misdemeanors when AND CUSTOMS. 99 an undergraduate, having presented an humble confession of his faults, with a petition to be restored to his place in the class in the (Catalogue now printing, be restored agree- able to his request." The Triennial Catalogue for that year was the first in which the names of the students appeared in an alphabetical order. The class of 1773 was the first in ( which the change was made. ' " The punishment of degradation," says President Wool- sey, in his Historical Discourse before the Graduates of Yale College, " laid aside not very long before the begin- ning of the Revolutionary war, was still more characteristic of the times. It was a method of acting upon the aristo- cratic feelings of family ; and we at this day can hardly conceive to what extent the social distinctions were then acknowledged and cherished. In the manuscript laws of the infant College we find the following regulation, which was borrowed from an early ordinance of Harvard under President Dunster. ' Every student shall be called by his sirname, except he be the son of a nobleman, or a knight's eldest son.' I know not whether such a ' rara avis in terris' ever received the honors of the College ; but a kind of colo- nial, untitled aristocracy grew up, composed of the families of chief magistrates, and of other civilians and ministers. In the second year of college life, precedency according to the aristocratic scale was determined, and the arrangement of names on the class roll was in accordance. This appears on our Triennial Catalogue until 1768, when the minds of men began to be imbued with the notion of equality. Thus, for instance, Gurdon Saltonstall, son of the Governor of that name, and descendant of Sir Richard, the first emigrant of the family, heads the class of 1725, and names of the same stock begin the lists of 1752 and 1756. It must have been ^ a pretty delicate matter to decide precedence in a multitude of cases, as in that of the sons of members of the council or . of ministers, to v^hich class many of the scholars belonged. The story used to circulate, as I dare say many of the older graduates remember, that a shoemaker's son, being questioned as to the quality of his father, replied, that he 96 COLLEGE WORDS was upon the bench, which gave him, of course, a high place." — pp. 48, 49. See under Place. * DEGREE. A mark of distinction conferred on students, as a testimony of their proficiency in arts and sciences ; giving them a kind of rank, and entitling them to certain privileges. This is usually evidenced by a diploma. Degrees are con- ferred pro meritis on the alumni of a college ; or they are honorary tokens of respect, conferred on strangers of dis- tinguished reputation. The first degree is that of Bachelor of Arts ; the second^ that of Master of Arts, Honorary degrees are those of Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Laws, &c. Physicians, also, receive the degree of Doctor of Medicine, — Wehster, DELTA. A piece of land in Cambridge, which belongs to Harvard College, where the students kick football, and play at cricket, and other games. The shape of the land is that of the Greek A, whence its name. What was unmeetest of all, timid strangers as we were, it was expected on the first Monday eventide after oar arrival, that we should assemble on a neighboring green, the Delta, since devoted to the purposes of a gymnasium, there to engage in a furious con- test with those enemies, the Sophs, at kicking football and shins. — A Tour through College, 1823-1827, p. 13. Where are the royal cricket matches of old, the great games of football, when the obtaining of victory was a point of honor, and crowds assembled on the Delta to witness the all-absorbing con- test? — Harvardiana, Vol. I. p. 107. I must have another pair of pantaloons soon, for I have burst the knees of two, in kicking football on the Delta, — Ibid., Vol. III. p. 77. The Delta can tell of the deeds we 've done. The fierce fought fields we 've lost and won, The shins we 've cracked, And noses we 've whacked, The eyes we 've blacked, and all in fun. Class Poem, 1849, Harv. Coll. DEMI, ) The name of a scholar at Magdalen College, DEMY. ) Oxford, where there are thirty demies or half- AND CUSTOMS. 97 fellows, as it were, who, like scholars in other colleges, suc- ceed to fellowships. — Johnson, DETERMINING. In the University of Oxford, a Bachelor is entitled to his degree of A. M. twelve terms after the regular time for taking his first degree, having previously gone through the ceremony of determining^ which exercise consists in reading two dissertations in Latin prose, or one in prose and a copy of Latin verses. As this takes place in Lent, it is commonly called determining in Lent, — Oxf. Guide. DETUR. Latin ; literally, let it le given. In 1657, the Hon. Edward Hopkins, dying, left, among other donations to Harvard College, one '^ to be applied to the purchase of books for presents to meritorious under- graduates." The distribution of these books is made, at the commencement of each academic year, to students of the Sophomore Class, who have made meritorious progress in their studies ; also, as far as the state of the funds admits, to those members of the Junior Class who entered as Sopho- mores, and have made meritorious progress in their studies during the Sophomore year, and to such Juniors as, having failed to receive a detur at the commencement of the Sopho- more year, have, during that year, made decided improve- ment in scholarship. — Laws of Univ. at Cam.^ Mass.,, 1848, p. 18. " From the first word in the short Latin label," Peirce says, " which is signed by the President, and attached to the inside of the cover, a book presented from this fund is familiarly called a Detur.'''' — Hist, Harv. Univ,^ p. 103. Now formy books ; first Bunyan's Pilgrim, (As he with thankful pleasure will grin,) Tho' dogleaved, torn, in bad type set in, 'T will do quite well for classmate B , And thus with complaisance to treat her, 'T will answer for another Detur. The Will of Charles Chatterbox. DEN. One of the buildings formerly attached to Harvard 9 98 COLLEGE WORDS College, which was taken down about six years ago, was for more than a half-century known by the name of the Den. It was occupied by students during the greater part of that period, although it was originally built for private use. In later years, from its appearance, both externally and inter- nally, it fully merited its cognomen ; but this is supposed to have originated from the following incident, which occurred within its walls about the year 1770, the time when it was built. The north portion of the house was occupied by Mr. Wiswal (to whom it belonged) and his family. His wife, who was then ill, and, as it afterwards proved, fatally, was attended by a woman who did not bear a very good charac- ter, to whom Mr. Wiswal seemed to be more attentive than was consistent with the character of a true and loving hus- band. About six weeks after Mrs. WiswaPs death, Mr. Wiswal espoused the nurse, which circumstance gave great offence to'Ithe good people of Cambridge, and was the cause of much scandal among the gossips. One Sunday, not long after this second marriage, Mr. Wiswal having gone to church, his wife, who did not accompany him, began an examination of her predecessor's wardrobe and possessions, with the intention, as was supposed, of appropriating to her- self whatever had been left by the former Mrs. Wiswal to her children. On his return from church, Mr. Wiswal, missing his wife, after searching for some time, found her at last in the kitchen, convulsively clutching the dresser, her eyes staring wildly, she herself being unable to speak. In this state of insensibility she remained until her decease, which occurred shortly after. Although it was evident that she had been seized with convulsions, and that these were the cause of her death, the old women '.were careful to promulgate, and their daughters to transmit the story, that the Devil had appeared to her in propria persona, and shaken her to pieces, as a punishment for her crimes. The building was purchased by Harvard College in the year 1774. In the Federal Orrery, March 26, 1795, is an article dated Wiswal-Den, Cambridge, which title it also bore, from the name of its former occupant. AND CUSTOMS. 99 Many years ago there emigrated to this University from the wilds of New Hampshire, an odd genius, by the name of Jedediah Croak, who took up his abode as a student in the old Den. — Har- vard Register, 1827 - 28, A Legend of the Den, pp. 82 - 86. DIG. To study hard ; to spend much time in studying. Another, in his study chair, Digs up Greek roots with learned care, — Unpalatable eating. Harv. Reg., 1827-28, p. 247. Here the sunken eye and sallow countenance bespoke the man who dug sixteen hours " per diem." — Ibid., p. 303. Some have gone to lounge away an hour in the libraries, — some to ditto in the grove, — some to dig upon the afternoon lesson. — Amherst Indicator, Vol. I. p. 77. DIG. A diligent student ; one who learns his lessons by hard and long-continued exertion. A clever soul is one, I say. Who wears a laughing face all day. Who never misses declamation. Nor cuts a stupid recitation. And yet is no elaborate dig^ Nor for rank systems cares a fig. Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 283. • I could see, in the long vista of the past, the many honest digs who had in this room consumed the midnight oil. — Collegian, p. 231. Resolves that he will be, in spite of toil or of fatigue. That humbug of all humbugs, the staid, inveterate " dig,^'' Poem before ladma of Harv, Coll., 1850. The fact that I am thus getting the character of a man of no talent and a mere *' dig,'^'' does, I confess, weigh down my spirits. — Amherst Indicator, Vol. I. p. 224. By this 't is that we get ahead of the Dig, 'T is not we that prevail, but the wine that we swig. Ibid., Vol. n. p. 252. DIGGING. The act of studying hard ; diligent application. I find my eyes in doleful case, By digging until midnight. Harv. Reg., p. 312. 100 COLLEGE WORDS I 've had an easy time in College, and enjoyed well the ** Otium cum dignitate," — the learned leisure of a scholar's life, — always despised diggings you know. — Ibid., p. 194. How often after his day of digging, when he comes to lay his weary head to rest, he finds the cruel sheets giving him no admit- tance. — Ibid., p. 377. Hopes to hit the mark By digging nightly into matters dark. Class Poem, Harv. Coll., 1835. He " makes up " for past " digging.'''' ladma Poem, Harv. Coll., 1850. DIGNITY. At Bowdoin College, " dignity,'''' says a corre- spondent, *' is the name applied to the regular holidays, vary- ing from one half-day per week, during the Freshman year, up to four in the Senior." DIKED. At the University of Virginia, one who is dressed with more than ordinary elegance is said to be diked out. Probably corrupted from the word decked, or the nearly ob- solete dighted, DIPLOMA. Greek, biTrXafjLa^ from StTrXoo), to double or fold. Anciently, a letter or other composition written on paper or parchment, and folded ; afterward, any letter, literary monu- ment, or public document. A letter or writing conferring some power, authority, privilege, or honor. Diplomas are given to graduates of colleges on their receiving the usual degrees; to clergymen who are licensed to exercise the ministerial functions ; to physicians who are licensed to practise their profession ; and to agents who are authorized to transact business for their principals. A diploma, then, is a writing or instrument, usually under seal, and signed by the proper person or officer, conferring merely honor, as in the case of graduates, or authority, as in the case of physi- cians, agents, &c. — Webster. DISCIPLINE. The punishments which are at present gen- erally adopted in American colleges, are warning, admoni- J tion, the letter home, suspension, rustication, and expulsion. j Formerly they were more numerous, and their execution AND CUSTOMS. 101 was attended with great solemnity. " The discipline of the College," says President Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, '* was enforced and sanctioned by daily visits of the tutors to the chambers of the students, fines, admoni- tions, confession in the Hall, publicly asking pardon, degra- dation to the bottom of the class, striking the name from the College list, and expulsion, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence." — Vol. I. p. 442. Of Yale College, President Woolsey'in^Mj!. Historical i;)js<^^ course says : " The old system of' discipline ,m,ay be, rai7e5/. At Princeton Col- lege, the aristocrats, or would-be aristocrats, are so called. OLD BURSCH. A name given in the German universities to a student during his fourth term. Students of this term are also designated Old Ones. AND CUSTOMS. 221 As they came forward, they were obliged to pass under a pair of naked swords, held crosswise by two Old Ones. — Longfellow'' s Hyperion^ p. 110. OLD HOUSE. A nanfie given in the German universities to a student during his fifth term. OPPONENCY. The opening of an academical disputation ; the proposition of objections to a tenet ; an exercise for a degree. — Todd. Mr. Webster remarks, " I believe not used in America." OPTIME. The title of those who stand in the second rank of honors, immediately after the wranglers, in the University of Cambridge, England. They are divided into senior and junior optimes, — Webster. See PoLLoi. OVERSEER. The general government of the colleges in the United States is vested in some instances in a Corpora- tion, in others in a Board of Trustees or Overseers, or, as in the case of Harvard College, in the two combined. The duties of the Overseers are, generally, to pass such orders and statutes as seem to them necessary for the prosperity of the college whose affairs they oversee, to dispose of its funds in such a manner as will be most advantageous, to appoint committees to visit it and examine the students con- nected with it, to ratify the appointment of instructors, and to hear such reports of the proceedings of the college gov- ernment as require their concurrence. OXFORD. The cap worn by the members of the University of Oxford, England, is called an Oxford or Oxford cap. The same is worn at some American colleges on Exhibition and Commencement days. In shape, it is square and flat, covered with black cloth ; from the centre depends a tassel of black cord. It is further described in the following pas- sage. My back equipped, it was not fair My head should 'scape^ and so, as square As chessboard, 19* 222 COLLEGE WORDS A cap I bought, my skull to screen, Of cloth without, and all within Of pasteboard. TerrcB-Filius, Vol. IT. p. 225. Thunders of clapping ! — As he bows, on high ** Praeses " his " Oxford " doffs, and bows reply. Childe Harvard, p. 36. It is sometimes called a trencher cap^ from its shape. OXFORD-MIXED. Cloth such as is worn at the University of Oxford, England. The students in Harvard College were formerly required to wear this kind of cloth as their uniform. The color is given in the following passage : " By black-mixed (called also Oxford-mixed) is understood, black with a mixture of not more than one twentieth, nor less than one twenty-fifth, part of white." — Laws of Harv, Coll., 1826, p. 25. He generally dresses in Oxford-mixed pantaloons, and a brown surtout. — Collegian J p. 240. P. PARCHMENT. A diploma, from the substance on which it is usually printed, is in familiar language sometimes called a parchment. There are some, who, relying not upon the * parchment and seal ' as a passport to favor, bear that with them which shall challenge notice and admiration. — Yale Lit. Mag,, Vol. III. p. 365. The passer-by, unskilled in ancient lore. Whose hands the ribboned parchment never bore. Class Poem at Harv. Coll., 1835, p. 7. See Sheepskin. PARIETAL. From Latin paries^ a wall ; properly, a parti- tion-wall, from the root of part or pare. Pertaining to a wall. — Wehster. AND CUSTOMS. 223 At Harvard College the officers resident within the Col- lege walls constitute a permanent standing committee, called the Parietal Committee. They have particular cognizance of all tardinesses at prayers and Sabbath services, and of all offences against good order and decorum. They are al- lowed to deduct from the rank of a student, not exceeding one hundred for one offence. In case any offence seems to them to require a higher punishment than deduction, it is reported to the Faculty. — Laws, 1850, App. Had I forgotten, alas ! the stern parikal monitions? Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 98. The chairman of the Parietal Committee is often called the Parietal Tutor, I see them shaking their fists in the face of the parietal tutor, — Oration before H. L. of L O. of O. F., 1849. The members of the committee are called, in common parlance, Parietals, Four rash and inconsiderate proctors, two tutors, and five parie- tals, each with a mug and pail in his hand, in their great haste to arrive at the scene of conflagration, ran over the Devil, and knocked him down stairs. — Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 124. And at the loud laugh of thy gurgling throat. The pariHals would forget themselves. Ibid., Vol. III. p. 399 et passim. Did not thy starting eyeballs think to see Some goblin parietal grin at thee ? Ibid., Y oh IV. p. 197. The deductions made by the Parietal Committee are also called Parietals. How now, ye secret, dark, and tuneless chanters. What is 't ye do 1 Beware the parietals, Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 44. Reckon on the fingers of your mind the reprimands, deductions, parietals, and privates in store for you. — Oral, H, L, of I, O. of O. F., 1848. The accent of this word is on the antepenult ; by poetic license^ in four of the passages above quoted, it is placed on the penult. 224 COLLEGE WORDS PART. That which is assigned to a student to be performed at an Exhibition or Commencement. In Harvard College, as soon as the parts for an Exhibition or Commencement are assigned, the subjects and the names of the performers are given to some member of one of the higher classes, who proceeds to read them to the students from a window of one of the buildings, after proposing the usual " three cheers " for each of the classes, designating them by the years in which they are to graduate. As the name of each person who has a part assigned him is read, the students respond with cheers. This over, the classes are again cheered, the reader of the parts is applauded, and the crowd disperse, except when the mock parts are read, or the offi- cers of the Navy Club resign their trusts. The refusal of a student to perform the fart assigned him, will be regarded as a high offence. — Laws Univ, at Cam., Mass., 1848, p. 19. Often, too, the qualifications for a part are discussed in the fireside circles so peculiar to college. — Harv, Reg,, p. 378. It is very common to speak of getting parts. Here Are acres of orations, and so forth. The glorious nonsense that enchants young hearts With all the humdrumology of" getting parts.'''' Our Chronicle of '26. Boston, 1827, p. 28. See under Mock-part and Navy Club. PASS. At Oxford, permission to receive the degree of A. B. after passing the necessary examinations. The good news of the pass will be a set-oflf against the few small debts. — Collegiaii^s Guide, p. 254. PASS MAN. At Oxford, one who merely passes his exam- ination, and obtains testimonials for a degree, but is not able to obtain any honors or distinctions. Opposed to Class- Man, q. v. " Have the passmen done their paper work yet? '' asked Whit- bread. " However, the schools, I dare say, will not be open to the classmen till Monday." — Collegian'' s Guide, p. 309. AND CUSTOMS. 225 PATRON. At some of the colleges in the United States, the patron is appointed to take charge of the funds, and to regu- late the expenses, of students who reside at a distance. For- merly, students who came within this provision were obliged to conform to the laws in reference to the patron ; it is now left optional. P. D. An abbreviation of Philosophice Doctor^ Doctor of Philosophy. " In the German universities," says Brande, " the title ' Doctor Philosophise ' has long been substituted for Baccalaureus Artium or Literarium." PEACH. To inform against ; to communicate facts by way of accusation. * It being rather advisable to enter college before twelve, or to stay out all nigl;it, bribing the bed-maker next morning not to peach. — Alma Mater, Yo\. I. p. 190. When, by a little spying, 1 can reach The height of my ambition, I must peach. The Gallinipper, Dec, 1849. PENE. Latin, almost^ nearly. A candidate for admission to the Freshman Class is called a Pewe, that is, almost a Fresh- man. PENNILESS BENCH. Archdeacon Nares, in his Glossary, says of this phrase : " A cant term for a state of poverty. There was a public seat so called in Oxford ; but I fancy it was rather named from the common saying, than that de- rived from it." Bid him bear up, he shall not Sit long on penniless bench, Mass. Cittj Mad., IV. 1. That everie stool he sate on was pennilesse bench, that his robes were rags. — Euphues and his Engl., D. 3. PENSIONER. French, pensionnaire^ one who pays for his board. In the University of Cambridge, England, and in that of Dublin, a student of the second rank, who is not de- pendent on the foundation for support, but pays for his board and other charges. Equivalent to Commoner at Oxford, or Oppidant of Eton school. — Brande, Gent. Mag.^ 1795. 226 COLLEGE WORDS PHI BETA KAPPA. The fraternity of the <^ B K " was im- ported," says Allyn in his Ritual, " into this country from France, in the year 1776 ; and, as it is said, by Thomas Jef- ferson, late President of the United States." It was originally chartered as a society in William and Mary College, in Virginia, and was organized at Yale College, Nov. 13th, 1780. By virtue of a charter formally executed by the president, officers, and members of the original society, it was established soon after at Harvard College, through the influence of Mr. Elisha Parmele, a graduate of the year 1778. The first meeting in Cambridge was held Sept. 5th, 1781. The original Alpha of Virginia is now extinct. " Its objects," says Mr. Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, " were the ' promotion of literature and friendly intercourse among scholars ' ; and its name and motto indi- cate, that ' philosophy, including therein religion as well as ethics, is worthy of cultivation as the guide of life.' This society took an early and a deep root in the University ; its exercises became public, and admittance into it an object of ambition ; but the ' discrimination,' which its selection of members made among students, became an early subject of question and discontent. In October, 1789, a committee of the Overseers, of which John Hancock was chairman, reported to that board, 'that there is an institution in the University, with the nature of which the government is not acquainted, which tends to make a discrimination among the students,' and submitted to the board ' the propriety of in- quiring into its nature and design.' The subject occasioned considerable debate, and a petition, of the nature of a com- plaint against the society, by a number of the members of the Senior Class, having been presented, its consideration was postponed, and it was committed ; but it does not appear from the records, that any further notice was taken of the petition. The influence of the society was upon the whole deemed salutary, since literary merit was assumed as the principle on which its members were selected ; and, so far, its influence harmonized with the honorable motives to exer- tion which have ever been held out to the students by the AND CUSTOMS. 22T laws and usages of the College. In process of time, its catalogue included almost every member of the Immediate Government, and fairness in the selection of members has been in a great degree secured by the practice it has adopted, of ascertaining those in every class who stand the highest, in point of conduct and scholarship, according to the esti- mates of the Faculty of the College, and of generally re- garding those estimates. Having gradually increased in numbers, popularity, and importance, the day after Com- mencement was adopted for its annual celebration. These occasions have uniformly attracted a highly intelligent and cultivated audience, having been marked by a display of learning and eloquence, and having enriched the literature of the country with some of its brightest gems." — Vol. II. p. 398. The immediate members of the society at Cambridge were formerly accustomed to hold semi-monthly meetings, the exercises of which were such as are usual in literary as- sociations. At present, meetings are seldom held except for the purpose of electing members. Affiliated societies have been established at Dartmouth, Union, and Bowdoin Colleges, at Brown and the Wesleyan Universities, at the Western Reserve College, at the University of Vermont, and at Amherst College, and they number among their members many of the most distinguished men in our country. The letters which constitute the name of the society are the in- itials of its motto, $tXoo-o<^ta, Blov Kv(3€pvr}rr)s^ Philosophy, the Guide of Life. A further account of this society may be found in Allyn's Ritual of Freemasonry, pp. 296-302, ed. 1831. PHILISTINE. In Germany this name, or what corresponds to it in that country, Philister, is given by the students to tradesmen and others not belonging to the university. Unb ijat t>ix S5uvfc^ teiu @e(b im ?5nitd, ©0 pum^t er bie 93(?iU|ler an. And has the Bursch his cash expended ? To sponge the Philistine '5 his plan. The Crambambuli Sons'. 228 COLLEGE WORDS Mr. Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial words, says of this word, " a cant term apph'ed to bailiffs, sheriffs' officers, and drunkards." The idea of narrow- mindedness, a contracted mode of thinking and meanness, is usually connected with it, and in some colleges in the United States the name has been given to those whose characters correspond with this description. See Snob. PHRASING. Reciting by, or giving the words or phrase- ology of the book, without understanding their meaning. Never should you allow yourself to think of going into the reci- tation-room, and there trust to " skinning it," as it is called in some colleges, or "joArasm^," as in others. — Todd^s Student's Manual, p. 115. PIECE. " Be it known, at Cambridge the various Commons and other places open for the gymnastic games, and the like public amusements, are usually denominated Pieces,'''* — Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 49. London, 1827. PIETAS ET GRATULATIO. "On the death of George the Second, and accession of George the Third, Mr. Bernard, Governor of Massachusetts, suggested to Harvard College " the expediency of expressing sympathy and congratula- tion on these events, in conformity with the practice of the English universities." Accordingly, on Saturday, March 14, 1761, there was placed in the Chapel of Harvard College the following " Proposal for a Celebration of the Death of the late King, and the Accession of his present Majesty, by members of Harvard College." " Six guineas are given for a prize of a guinea each to the Author of the best composition of the following several kinds: — 1. A Latin Oration. 2. A Latin Poem, in hexame- ters. 3. A Latin Elegy, in hexameters and pentameters. 4. A Latin Ode. 5. An English Poem, in long verse. 6. An English Ode. " Other Compositions, besides those that obtain the prizes, that are most deserving, will be taken particular notice of. " The candidates are to be, all. Gentlemen who are now AND CUSTOMS. 229 members of said College, or have taken a degree within sev- en years. " Any Candidate may deliver two or more compositions of different kinds, but not more than one of the same kind. " That Gentlemen may be more encouraged to try their talents upon this occasion, it is proposed that the names of the Candidates shall be kept secret, except those who shall be adjudged to deserve the prizes, or to have particular notice taken of their Compositions, and even these shall be kept secret if desired. " For this purpose each Candidate is desired to send his Composition to the President, on or before the first day of July next, subscribed at the bottom with a feigned name or motto, and, in a distinct paper, to write his own name and seal it up, writing the feigned name or motto on the outside. None of the sealed papers containing the real names will be opened, except those that are adjudged to obtain the prizes or to deserve particular notice ; the rest will be burned sealed." This proposal resulted in a work, entitled, " Pietas et Gratulatio Collegii Cantabrigiensis apud Novanglos." In January, 1762, the Corporation passed a vote, " that the collections in prose and verse in several languages composed by some of the members of the College, on the motion of his Excellency our Governor, Francis Bernard, Esq., on occasion of the death of his late Majesty, and the accession of his present Majesty, be printed ; and that his Excellency be desired to send, if he shall judge it proper, a copy of the same to Great Britain, to be presented to his Majesty, in the name of the Corporation." ' Quincy thus speaks of the collection : " Governor Ber- nard not only suggested the work, but contributed to it. Five of the thirty-one compositions, of which it consists, were from his pen. The Address to the King is stated to have been written by him, or by Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson. Its style and turn of thought indicate the politician rather than the student, and savor of the senate-chamber more than of the academy. The classical and poetic merits of the work bear a fair comparison with those of European 20 230 COLLEGE WORDS universities on similar occasions, allowance being made for the difference in the state of science and literature in the respective countries ; and it is the most creditable specimen extant of the art of printing, at that period, in the Colo- nies. The work is respectfully noticed by the ' Critical ' and ' Monthly ' Reviews, and an ode of the President is pronounced by both to be written in a style truly Horatian. In the address prefixed, the hope is expressed, that, as ' English colleges have had kings for their nursing fathers, and queens for their nursing mothers, this of North America might experience the royal munificence, and look up to the throne for favor and patronage.' In May, 1763, letters were received from Jasper Mauduit, agent of the Province, men- tioning ' the presentation to his Majesty of the book of verses from the College,' but the records give no indication of the manner in which it was received. The thoughts of George the Third were occupied, not with patronizing learn- ing in the Colonies, but with deriving revenue from them, and Harvard College was indebted to him for no act of acknowledgment or munificence." — Quincy^s Hist. Harv, Univ., Yol II. pp. 103-105. The Charleston Courier, in an article entitled " Literary Sparring," says of this production : " When, as late as 1761, Harvard University sent forth, in Greek, Latin, and English, its congratulations on the accession of George the Third to the throne, it was called, in England, a curiosity. — ^'^Bucking- ham's Miscellanies from the Public Journals, Vol. I. p. 103. Mr. Kendall, an English traveller, who visited Cambridge in the* year 1807-8, notices this work as follows: — "In the year 1761, on the death of George the Second and the accession of his present Majesty, Harvard College, or, as on this occasion it styles itself, Cambridge College, produced a volume of tributary verses, in English, Latin, and Greek, entitled, Pietas et Gratulatio CoUegii Cantabrigiensis apud Novanglos ; and this collection, the first received, and, as it has since appeared, the last to be received, from this semi- nary, by an English king, was cordially welcomed by the critical journals of the time." — KendalVs Travels, Vol. III. p. 12. AND CUSTOMS. 231 For further remarks, consult the Monthly Review, Vol. XXIX. p. 22 ; Critical Review, Vol. X. p. 284 ; and the Monthly Anthology, Vol. VI. p. 427. PIMP. To do little, mean actions for the purpose of gaining favor with a superior, as, in college, with an instructor. The verb with this meaning is derived from the adjective jpimp- ing, which signifies little^ petty. Did I not promise those who fished And pimped most any part they wished. The Rebelliad, p. 33. PISCATORIAN. From the Latin piscator^ a fisherman. One who seeks or gains favor with a teacher by being officious toward him. This word was much used at Harvard College in the year 1822, and for a few years after ; it is now very seldom heard. See under Fish. PLACE. In the older American colleges, the situation of a student in the class of which he was a member was for- merly decided in a measure by the rank and circumstances of his family ; this was called placing. The Hon. Paine Win- gate, who graduated at Harvard College in the year 1759, says, in one of his letters to Mr. Peirce : — " You inquire of me whether any regard was paid to a stu- dent on account of the rank of his parent, otherwise than his being arranged or placed in the order of his class ? " The right of precedence on every occasion is an object of importance in the state of society. And there is scarce any thing which more sensibly affects the feelings of ambi- tion than the rank which a man is allowed to hold. This excitement was generally called up whenever a class in col- lege was placed. The parents were not wholly free from in- fluence ; but the scholars were often enraged beyond bounds for their disappointment in their place, and it was some time before a class could be settled down to an acquiescence in their allotment. The highest and the lowest in the class was often ascertained more easily (though not without some 232 COLLEGE WORDS difficulty) than the intermediate members of the class, where there was room for uncertainty whose claim was best, and where partiality no doubt was sometimes indulged. But I must add, that, although the honor of a place in the class was chiefly ideal, yet there were some substantial advantages. The higher part of the class had generally the most influ- ential friends, and they commonly had the best chambers in College assigned to them. They had also a right to help themselves first at table in Commons, and I believe generally, wherever there was occasional precedence allowed, it was very freely yielded to the higher of the class by those who were below. " The Freshman Class was, in my day at college, usually placed (as it was termed) within six or nine months after their admission. The official notice of this was given by having their names written in a large German text, in a handsome style, and placed in a conspicuous part of the Col- lege Buttery^ where the names of the four classes of under- graduates were kept suspended until they left College. If a scholar was expelled, his name was taken from its place ; or if he was degraded (which was considered the next highest punishment to expulsion), it was moved accordingly. As soon as the Freshmen were apprised of their places, each one took his station according to the new arrangement at recitation, and at Commons, and in the chapel, and on all other occasions. And this arrangement was never afterward altered, either in College or in the Catalogue, however the rank of their parents might be varied. Considering how much dissatisfaction was often excited by placing the classes (and I believe all other colleges had laid aside the practice), I think that it was a judicious expedient in Harvard to con- form to the custom of putting the names in alphabetical order, and they have accordingly so remained since the year 1772."— Peirce's Hist, of Harv, Univ., pp. 308-311. See Degradation. PLACET. Latin ; literally, it is pleasing. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the term in which an affirmative vote is given in the Senate-House. AND CUSTOMS. 233 PLUCK. In the English universities, a refusal of testimonials for a degree. The origin of this word is thus stated in the Collegian's Guide : '* At the time of conferring a degree, just as the name of each man to be presented to the Vice-Chancellor is read out, a proctor walks once up and down to give any per- son who can object to the degree an opportunity of signify- ing his dissent, which is done by plucking or pulling the proctor's gown. Hence another and more common mode of stopping a degree, by refusing the testamur, or certificate of proficiency, is also called plucking." — p. 203. On the same word, the author in another place remarks as follows : " As long back as my memory will carry me, down to the present day, there has been scarcely a mono- syllable in our language which seemed to convey so stinging a reproach, or to let a man down in the general estimation half as much, as this one word Pluck." — p. 288. PLUCKED. A cant term at the English universities, applied to those who, for want of scholarship, are refused their testi- monials for a degree. — Oxford Guide. Who had at length scrambled through the pales and discipline of the Senate-House without being plucked, and miraculously obtained the title of A. B.— Gent. Mag., 1795, p. 19. O, what a misery is it to be plucked! Not long since, an under- graduate was driven mad by it, and committed suicide. — The term itself is contemptible : it is associated with the meanest, the most stupid and spiritless animals of creation. . When we hear of a man being plucked, we think he is necessarily a goose. — Collegian^s Guide, p. 288. POKER. At Oxford, Eng., a cant name for a hedeL If the visitor see an unusual ** state " walking about, in shape of an individual preceded by a quantity of pokers, or, which is the same thing, men, that is bedels, carrying maces, jocularly called pokers, he may be sure that that individual is the Vice-Chancellor. — Oxford Guide, p. xii., 1847. POLE. At Princeton and Union Colleges, to study hard, e. g. to pole out the lesson. To pole on a composition, to take pains with it. 20* 234 COLLEGE WORDS POLER. One who studies hard ; a close student. As a boat is impelled with poles, so is the student hy poling, and it is perhaps from this analogy that the word poler is applied to a diligent student. POLLOI. 01 noXXoi, the many. In the University of Cam- bridge, Eng., those who take their degree without any honor. After residing something more than three years at this University, at the conclusion of the tenth term comes off the final examination in the Senate-House. He who passes this examination in the best manner is called Senior Wran- gler. " Then follow about twenty, all called Wranglers, arranged in the order of merit. Two other ranks of honors are there, — Senior Optimes and Junior Optimes, each con- taining about twenty. The last Junior Optime is termed the Wooden Spoon. Then comes the list of the large majority, called the Hoy Polloi, the first of whom is named the Captain of the Poll, and the twelve last, the Apostles." — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 3. PONS ASINORUM. Vide Asses' Bridge. PONY. A translation. So called, it may be, from the fleet- ness and ease with which a skilful rider is enabled to pass over places which to a common plodder present many obstacles. And stick to the law, Tom, without a Pony. — Harv, Reg. p. 194. And when leaving, leave behind us Ponies for a lower class ; Ponies, which perhaps another, Toiling up the College hill, A forlorn, a " younger brother," *' Riding," may rise higher still. Poem before the Y. H. Soc, p. 12, 1849. Their lexicons, ponies, and text-books were strewed round their lamps on the table. — A Tour through College, p. 30. Boston, 1832. In the way of ** pony,^"* or translation, to the Greek of Father Griesbach, the New Testament was wonderfully convenient. — New England Magazine, Vol. III. p. 208. AND CUSTOMS. 235 The notes are just what notes should be ; they are not a pony, but a guide. — Southern Lit, Mess, Instead of plodding on foot along the dusty, well-worn McAdam of learning, why will you take nigh cuts on ponies? — Yale Lit, Mag., Vol. XIII. p. 281. The '* board " requests that all who present themselves will bring along the ponies they have used since their first entrance into Col- lege. — The Gallinipper, Dec. 1849. The tutors with ponies their lessons were learning. Yale Banger, Nov. 1850. We do think, that, with such a team of ^^ ponies " and load of commentators, his instruction might evince more accuracy. — Yale Tomahaivk, Feb. 1851. PONY. To use a translation. POPPING. At William and Mary College, getting the advan- tage over another in argument is called popping him. POPULARITY. In the college wse, favor of one's classmates, or of the members of all the classes, generally. Nowhere is this term employed so often, and with so much significance, as among collegians. The first wish of the Freshman is to be popular, and the desire does not leave him during all his college life. For remarks on this subject, see The Lit- erary Miscellany, Vol. II. p. 56 ; Amherst Indicator, Vol. II. p. 123, etc. PORTIONIST. One who has a certain academical allowance or portion. — Webster, See Postmaster. POSTMASTER. In Merton College, Oxford, the scholars who are supported on the foundation are called Postmasters, or Portionists {Portionistcz). — Oxf, Guide. PRASES. The Latin for President. ** PrcBses " his " Oxford " doffs, and bows reply. Childe Harvard, p. 36. Did not the Prceses himself most kindly and oft reprimand me ? Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 98. PRAYERS. In colleges and universities, the religious exer- 236 COLLEGE WORDS cises performed in the chapel at morning and evening, at which all the students are required to attend. These exercises in some institutions were formerly much more extended than at present, and must on some occasions have been very onerous. Mr. Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, writing in relation to the customs which were prevalent in the College at the beginning of the last century, says on this subject : " Previous to the accession of Leverett to the presidency, the practice of obliging the undergraduates to read portions of the Scripture from Latin or English into Greek, at morning and evening service, had been discontinued. But in January and May, 1708, this ' ancient and laudable practice was revived ' by the Corpo- ration. At morning prayers all the undergraduates were ordered, beginning with the youngest, to read a verse out of the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Greek, except the Freshmen, who were permitted to use their English Bibles in this exercise ; and at evening service, to read from the New Testament out of the English or Latin translation into Greek, whenever the President performed this service in the Hall." In less than twenty years after the revival of these exercises, they were again discontinued. The following was then established as the order of morning and evening worship : "The morning service began with a short prayer; then a cliapter of the Old Testament was read, which the President expounded, and concluded with prayer. The evening service was the same, except that the chapter read was from the New Testament, and on Saturday a psalm was sung in the Hall. On Sunday, exposition was omitted ; a psalm was sung morning and evening ; and one of the scholars, in course, was called upon to repeat, in the evening, the sermons preached on that day." — Vol. I. pp. 439, 440. The custom of singing at prayers on Sunday evening continued for many years. In a manuscript journal kept during the year 1793, notices to the following effect fre- quently occur. '*Feb. 24th, Sunday. The singing club performed Man's Victory, at evening prayers." " Sund. April 14th, P. M. At prayers the club performed Brandon." AND CUSTOMS. 237 " May 19th, Sabbath, P. M. At prayers the club performed Holden's Descend ye nine, etc." Soon after this, prayers were discontinued on Sunday evenings. The President was required to officiate at prayers, but when unable to attend, the office devolved on one of the Tutors, '^ they taking their turns by course weekly." When- ever they performed this duty " for any considerable time," they were " suitably rewarded for their service." In one instance, in 1794, all the officers being absent, Mr., afterwards Prof McKean,then an undergraduate, performed the duties of chaplain. Tn the journal above referred to, under date of Feb. 22, 1793, is this note : " At prayers, I declaimed in Latin " ; which would seem to show, that this season was sometimes made the occasion for exercises of a literary, as well as religious character. At Yale College, one of the earliest laws ordains that " all undergraduates shall publicly repeat sermons in the hall in their course, and also bach- elors; and be constantly examined on Sabbaths [at] evening prayer." — Pres, Woolsey'^s Discourse^ p. 59. A writer in the American Literary Magazine, in noticing some of the evils connected with the American college sys- ' tem, describes very truthfully, in the following question, a scene not at all novel in student life. " But when the young man is compelled to rise at an unusually early hour to attend public prayers, under all kinds of disagreeable cir- cumstances ; when he rushes into the chapel breathless, with wet feet, half dressed, and with the prospect of a recita- tion immediately to succeed the devotions, — is it not natural that he should be listless, or drowsy, or excited about his recitation, during the whole sacred exercise ? " — Vol. IV. p. 517. This season formerly affiDrded an excellent opportunity, for those who were so disposed, to play off practical jokes on the person officiating. On one occasion, at one of our col- leges, a goose was tied to the desk by some of the students, intended as emblematic of the person who was accustomed to occupy that place. But the laugh was artfully turned upon them by the minister, who, seeing the bird with his head direct- 238 ~ COLLEGE WORDS ed to the audience, remarked, that he perceived the young gentlemen were for once provided with a parson admirably- suited to their capacities, and with these words left them to swallow his well-timed sarcasm. On another occasion, a ram was placed in the pulpit, with his head turned to the door by which the minister usually entered. On opening the door the animal, diving between the legs of the fat shep- herd, bolted down the pulpit stairs, carrying on his back the sacred load, and with it rushed out of the chapel, leaving the assemblage to indulge in the reflections excited by the ex- pressive looks of the astonished beast, and of his more aston- ished rider. The Bible was often kept covered, when not in use, with a cloth. It was formerly a very common trick to place under this cloth a pewter plate obtained from the commons hall, which the minister, on uncovering, would, if he were a shrewd man, quietly slide under the desk, and proceed as usual with the exercises. At Harvard College, about the year 1785, two Indian im- ages were missing from their accustomed place on the top of the gate-posts which stood in front of the dwelling of a gentleman of Cambridge. At the same time the Bible was taken from the chapel, and another, which was purchased to supply its place, soon followed it, no one knew where. One day, as a tutor was passing by the room of a student, hearing within an uncommonly loud noise, he entered, as was his right and office. There stood the occupant, holding in his hands one of the chapel Bibles, while before him on the table were placed the images, to which he appeared to be reading, but in reality was vociferating all kinds of senseless gibberish. " What is the meaning of this noise ? " inquired the tutor in great anger. " Propagating the gospel among the Indians^ Sir," replied the student calmly. While Professor Ashur Ware was a tutor in Harvard Col- lege, he in his turn, when the President was absent, officiated at prayers. Inclined to be longer in his devotions than was thought necessary by the students, they were often on such occasions seized with violent fits of sneezing, which gen- AND CUSTOMS. 239 erally made themselves audible in the word " A-a-shur," " A-a-shur." PRELECTOR. Latin, prcBlecior, One who reads an author to others and adds explanations ; a reader ; a lecturer. Their so famous a prelectour doth teach. — Sheldon, Mir. of Anti' Christ, p. 38. If his reproof be private, or with the cathedrated authority of a prcBlecior or public reader. — Whitlock, Mann, of the English, p. 385. 2. Same as Father, which see. PREPOSITOR. Latin. A scholar appointed by the master to overlook the rest. And when requested for the salt-cellar, I handed it with as much trepidation as a prceposter gives the Doctor a list, when he is con- scious of a mistake in the excuses. — The Etonian, Vol. IL p. 281. PRESENTATION DAY. At Yale College, Presentation Day is the time when the Senior Class, having finished the prescribed course of study, and passed a satisfactory exami- nation, are presented by the examiners to the President, as properly qualified to be admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. A distinguished professor of the institution where this day is observed has kindly furnished the following in- teresting historical account of this observance. " This presentation," he writes, " is a ceremony of long standing. It has certainly existed for more than a century. It is very early alluded to, not as a novelty^ but as an estab- lished custom. There is now less formality on such occa- sions, but the substantial parts of the exercises are retained. The examination is now begun on Saturday and finished on Tuesday, and the day after, Wednesday, six weeks before the public Commencement, is the day of Presentation. There have sometimes been literary exercises on that day by one or more of the candidates, and sometimes they have been omitted. I have in my possession a Latin Oration, what, I suppose, was called a Cliosophic Oration^ pro- nounced by William Samuel Johnson in 1744, at the presen- tation of his class. Sometimes a member of the class ex- 240 COLLEGE WORDS hibited an English Oration, which was responded to by some one of the College Faculty, generally by one who had been the principal instructor of the class presented. A case of this kind occurred in 1776, when Mr., afterwards President Dwight, responded to the class orator in an address, which, being delivered the same July in which Independence was declared, drew, from its patriotic allusions, as well as for other reasons, unusual attention. It was published, — a rare thing at that period. Another response was delivered in 1796, by J. Stebbins, Tutor, which was likewise published. There has been no exhibition of the kind since. For a few years past, there have been an oration and a poem exhib- ited by members of the graduating class, at the time of pre- sentation. The appointments for these exercises are made by the class. " So much of an exhibition as there was at the presenta- tion in 1778 has not been usual. More was then done, probably, from the fact, that for several years, during the Revolutionary war, there was no public Commencement. Perhaps it should be added, that, so far back as my informa- tion extends, after the literary exercises of Presentation Day, there has always been a dinner, or collation, at which the College Faculty, graduates, invited guests, and the Senior Class have been present." A graduate of the present year writes more particularly in relation to the observances of the day at the present time. " In the morning the Senior Class are met in one of the lecture-rooms by the chairman of the Faculty and the senior Tutor. The latter reads the names of those who have passed a satisfactory examination, and are to be rec- ommended for degrees. The Class then adjourn to the College Chapel, where the President and some of the Pro- fessors are waiting to receive them. The senior Tutor reads the names as before, after which Professor Kingsley recommends the Class to the President and Faculty for the degree of A. B., in a Latin discourse. The President then responds in the same tongue, and addresses a few words of counsel to the Class. AND CUSTOMS. 241 " These exercises are followed by the Poem and Oration, delivered by members of the Class chosen for these offices, by the Class. Then comes the dinner given in one of the lecture-rooms. After this the Class meet in the College yard, and spend the afternoon in smoking (the old clay pipe is used, but no cigars) and singing. Thus ends the active life of our college days." In the Appendix to President Woolsey's Historical Dis- course delivered before the Graduates of Yale College, is the following account of Presentation Day, in 1778. " The Professor of Divinity, two ministers of the town, and another minister, having accompanied me to the library about 1, P. M., the middle Tutor waited upon me there, and informed me that the examination was finished, and they were ready for the presentation. I gave leave, being seated in the library between the above ministers. Hereupon the examiners, preceded by the Professor of Mathematics, entered the library, and introduced thirty candidates, a beautiful sight ! The Diploma Examinatorium, with the re- turn and minutes inscribed upon it, was delivered to the President, who gave it to the Vice-Bedellus, directing him to read it. He read it and returned it to the President, to be deposited among the College archives in perpetuam rei memoriam. The senior Tutor thereupon made a very eloquent Latin speech, and presented the candidates for the honors of the College. This presentation the President in a Latin speech accepted, and addressed the gentlemen exam- iners and the candidates, and gave the latter liberty to re- turn home till Commencement. Then dismissed. " At about 3, P. M., the afternoon exercises were ap- pointed to begin. At 3|, the bell tolled, and the assembly convened in the chapel, ladies and gentlemen. The Presi- dent introduced the exercises in a Latin speech, and then delivered the Diploma Examinatorium to the Vice-Bedellus, who, standing on the pulpit stairs, read it publicly. Then succeeded, — Cliosophic Oration in Latin, by Sir Meigs. Poetical Composition in English, by Sir Barlow. 21 242 COLLEGE WORDS !Sir Miller, Sir Chaplin, Sir Ely. Cliosophic Oration, English, by Sir Webster. !Sir Wolcott, Sir Swift, Sir Smith. Valedictory Oration, English, by Sir Tracy. An Anthem. Exercises two hours." — p. 121. PRESIDENT. In the United States, the chief officer of a college or university. His duties are, to preside at the meetings of the Faculty, at Exhibitions and Commence- ments, to sign the diplomas or letters of degree, to carry on the official correspondence, to address counsel and instruc- tion to the students, and to exercise a general superintend- ence in the affairs of the college over which he presides. At Harvard College it was formerly the duty of the Pres- ident " to inspect the manners of the students, and unto his morning and evening prayers to join some exposition of the chapters which they read from Hebrew into Greek, from the Old Testament, in the morning, and out of English into Greek, from the New Testament, in the evening." At the same College, in the early part of the last century, Mr. Wadsworth, the President, states, " that he expounded the Scriptures, once eleven, and sometimes eight or nine times in the course of a week." — Harv. Reg.^ p. 249, and Quin- cy^s Hist. Harv. TJniv.^ Vol. I. p. 440. Similar duties were formerly required of the President at other American colleges. In some, at the present day, he performs the duties of a professor in connection with those of his own office, and presides at the daily religious exer- cises in the Chapel. The title of President is given to the chief officer in some of the colleges of the English universities. PRESIDENT'S CHAIR. At Harvard College, there is in the Library an antique chair, venerable by age and associa- tion, which is used only on Commencement Day, when it is AND CUSTOMS. 243 occupied by the President while engaged in delivering the diplomas for degrees. " Vague report," says Quincy, " rep- resents it to have been brought to the College during the presidency of Holyoke, as the gift of the Rev. Ebenezer Turell of Medford (the author of the Life of Dr. Colman). Turell was connected by marriage with the Mathers, by some of whom it is said to have been brought from Eng- land." Holyoke was President from 1737 to 1769. The round knobs on the chair were turned by President Holy- oke, and attached to it by his own hands. In the picture of this honored gentleman, belonging to the College, he is painted in the old chair, which seems peculiarly adapted by its strength to support the weight which fills it. Before the erection of Gore Hall, the present library building, the books of the College were kept in Harvard Hall. In the same building, also, was the Philosophy Chamber, where the chair usually stood for the inspection of the curious. Over this domain, from the year 1793 to 1800, presided Mr. Samuel Shapleigh, the Librarian. He was a dapper little bachelor, very active and remarkably attentive to the ladies who visited the Library, especially the younger portion of them. When ushered into the room where stood the old chair, he would watch them with eager eyes, and, as soon as one, prompted by a desire of being able to say, " I have sat in the President's Chair," took this seat, rubbing his hands together, he would exclaim, in great glee, " A forfeit ! a forfeit ! " and demand from the fair occupant a kiss, a fee which, whether refused or not, he very seldom failed to obtain. This custom, which seems now-a-days to be going out of fashion, is mentioned by Mr. William Biglow, in a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, recited in their dining- hall, August 29, 1811. Speaking of Commencement Day and its observances, he says : ** Now young gallants allure their favorite fair To take a seat in Presidential Chair ; Then seize the long-accustonned fee, the bliss Of the half ravished, half free-granted kiss," 244 COLLEGE WORDS The editor of Mr. Peirce's History of Harvard University publishes the following curious extracts from Horace Wal- pole's Private Correspondence, giving a description of some antique chairs found in England, exactly of the same con- struction w^ith the College chair ; a circumstance which cor- roborates the supposition that this also was brought from England. Horace Walpole to George Montagu, Esq. *' Strawberry Hill, August 20, 1761. " Dickey Bateman has picked up a whole cloister full of old chairs in Herefordshire. He bought them one by one, here and there in farm-houses, for three and six pence and a crown apiece. They are of wood, the seats triangular, the backs, arms, and legs loaded with turnery. A thousand to one but there are plenty up and down Cheshire, too. If Mr. and Mrs. Wetenhall, as they ride or drive out, would now and then pick up such a chair, it would oblige me greatly. Take notice, no two need be of the same pat- tern." — Private Correspondence of Horace Walpole, Earl of Or- ford, Vol. n. p. 279. Horace Walpole to the Rev. Mr. Cole. " Straioberry Hill, March 9, 1765. ^ " When you go into Cheshire, and upon your ramble, may I trouble you with a commission? but about which you must promise me not to go a step out of your way. Mr. Bateman has got a cloister at old Windsor furnished wuth ancient vi^ooden chairs, most of them triangular, but all of various patterns, and carved and turned in the most uncouth and whimsical forms. He picked them up one by one, for two, three, five, or six shillings apiece, from different farm-houses in Herefordshire. I have long envied and coveted them. There may be such in poor cottages in so neigh- boring a county as Cheshire. I should not grudge any expense for purchase or carriage, and should be glad even of a couple such for my cloister here. When you are copying inscriptions in a church- yard in any village, think of me, and step into the first cottage you see, but don't take further trouble than that." — Ibid., Vol. HI. pp. 23, 24, from Peirce''s Hist. Haru. Univ., p. 312. An engraving of the chair is to be found in President Quincy's History of Harvard University, Vol. I. p. 288. PREVARICATOR. A sort of an occasional orator ; an aca- demical phrase in the University of Cambridge, England. — Johnson. AND CUSTOMS. 245 He should not need have pursued me through the various shapes of a divine, a doctor, a head of a college, a professor, 3. prevaricator, a mathematician. — Bp. Wren, Monarchy Asserted, Pref. It vi^ould have made you smile to hear the prevaricator, in his joc- ular way, give him his title and character to face. — A, Philips, Life of Abp. Williams, p. 34. See TERRiE-FiLius. PREX. A cant term for President. After examination, I went to the old Prex, and was admitted. Prex, hy the way, is the same as President. — The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117. But take a peep with us, dear reader, into that sanctum sancto- rum, that skull and bones of college mysteries, the Prex^s room. — The Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846. Good old Prex used to get the students together and advise them on keeping their faces clean, and blacking their boots, &c. — Am- herst Indicator, Vol. III. p. 228. PRINCIPAL. At Oxford, the president of a college or hall is sometimes styled the principal. — Oxf. Cal, PRIVATE. At Harvard College, one of the milder punish- ments is what is called private admonition, by which a de- duction is made from the rank of the offender. So called in contradistinction to public admonition, when a deduction is made, and with it a letter is sent to the parent. Often abbreviated into private. Reckon on the fingers of your mind the reprimands, deductions, parietals, and privates in store for you. — Oralion before H, L, of L O, of O. F,, 1848. What are parietals, parts, privates now. To the still calmness of that placid brow ? Class Poem, Harv. Coll, 1849. PROBATION. In colleges and universities, the examination of a student as to his qualifications for a degree. 2. The time which a student passes in college from the period of entering until he is matriculated and received as a member in full standing. In American colleges, this is usu- ally six months, but can be prolonged at discretion. — Colh Laws, 21* 246 COLLEGE WORDS PROCEED. To take a degree. Mr. Halliwell, in his Die- tionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, says, '*This term is still used at the English universities." It was for- merly used in American colleges. In 1605 he proceeded Master of Arts, and became celebrated as a wit and a poet. — Poems of Bishop Corbet, p. ix. They that expect to proceed Bachelors that year, to be examined of their sufficiency, and such that expect to proceed Masters of Arts, to exhibit their synopsis of acts. They, that are approved sufficient for their degrees, shall proceed, — Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. I. p. 518. The Overseers recommended to the Corporation " to take effectual measures to prevent those who proceeded Bachelors of Arts, from having entertainments of any kind." — Ibid., Vol. 11. p. 93. Of the surviving graduates, the oldest proceeded Bachelor of Arts the very Commencement at which Dr. Stiles was elected to the Presidency. — Woolsei/s Discourse, Yale Coll., Aug. 14, 1850, p. 38. PROCTOR. Contracted from the Latin procurator^ from pro- euro ; pro and euro. ^ In the English universities, two proctors are annually elected, who are peace officers. It is their especial duty to attend to the discipline and behavior of all persons in statu pupillari^ to search houses of ill fame, and to take into cus- tody women of loose and abandoned character, and even those de maJo suspectce. Their other duties are not so menial in their character, and are different in different uni- versities. — Cam. Cal, " The proctors act as university magistrates ; they are ap- pointed from each college in rotation, and remain in office two years. They nominate four pro-proctors to assist them. Their chief duty, in which they are known to undergrad- uates, is to preserve order, and keep the town free from im- proper characters. When they go out in the evening, they are usually attended by two servants, called by the gowns- men bull-dogs The marshal, a chief officer, is usually in attendance on one of the proctors It is also the proctor's duly to take care that the cap and gown are worn ? Abbreviated for Professor, AND CUSTOMS. 247 in the university." — The Collegian^s Guide, Oxford, pp. 176, 177. The class of xjfficers called Proctors was instituted at Harvard College in the year 1805, their duty being '' to re- side constantly and preserve order within the walls," to pre- serve order among the students, to see that the laws of the College are enforced, " and to exercise the same inspection and authority in their particular district, and throughout Col- lege, which it is the duty of a parietal Tutor to exercise therein." — Qaincy'^s Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. II. p. 292. I believe this is the only college in the United States where this class of academical police officers is established. PROF, PROFF. The Proff thought he knew too much to stay here, and so he went his way, and I saw him no more. — The Dartmouth^ \o\. IV. p. 116. For Proffs and Tutors too, Who steer our big canoe, > Prepare their lays. Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. III. p. 144. PROFESSOR. One that publicly teaches anjr science or branch of learning ; particularly, an officer in a university, college, or other seminary, whose business is to read lectures or instruct students in a particular branch of learning ; as, a professor of theology or mathematics. — Wehster, PROFESSOR OF DUST AND ASHES. A title sometimes jocosely given by students to the person who has the care of their rooms. Was interrupted a moment just now, by the entrance of Mr. C , the gentleman who makes the beds, sweeps, takes up the ashes, and supports the dignity of the title, " Professor of Dust and Ashes. ^^ — Sketches of Williams College, p. 77. The South College Prof, of Dust and Ashes has a huge bill against the Society. — Yale Tomahawk, Feb. 1851. PROFICIENT. The degree of Proficient is conferred in the University of Virginia, in a certificate of proficiency, on 248 COLLEGE WORDS those who have studied only in certain branches taught in some of the schools connected with that institution. PRO-PROCTOR. In the English universities, an officer ap- pointed to assist the proctors in that part of their duty only which relates to the discipline and behavior of those persons who are in statu pupillari. — Cam. and Oxf. Cals, More familiarly, these officers are called pro''s. They [the proctors] are assisted in their duties by four pro-proc- tors, each principal being allowed to nominate his two '';?ro'5." — Oxford Guide, p. xiii., 1847. PRO VICE-CHANCELLOR. In the English universities, a deputy appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, who exercises his power in case of his illness or necessary absence. PROVOST. The President of a college. Dr. Jay, on his arrival in England, found there Dr. Smith, Pro- vost of the College in Philadelphia, soliciting aid for that institution. — Hist. Sketch of Columbia Coll., p. 36. At Columbia College in 1811, an officer was appointed, styled Provost, who, in absence of the President, was to supply his place, and who, ** besides exercising the like general superintendence with the Presid^t," was to conduct the classical studies of the Senior Class. The office of Provost continued until 1816, when the Trus- tees determined that its powers and duties should devolve upon the President. — Ibid,, p. 81. At Oxford, the chief officer of some of the colleges bears this title. At Cambridge, it is appropriated solely to the President of King's College. " On the choice of a Provost," says the author of a History of the University of Cambridge, 1753, " the Fellows are all shut into the ante-chapel, and out of which they are not permitted to stir on any account, nor none permitted to enter, till they have all agreed on their man ; which agreement sometimes takes up several days ; and, if I remember right, they were three days and nights confined in choosin-g the present Provost, and had their beds, close-stools, &c., with them, and their commons, &;c., given them in at the windows." — Gradus ad Cantab.^ p. 85. PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE. In Yale College, a com- AND CUSTOMS. 249 mittee to whom the discretionary concerns of the College are intrusted. They order such repairs of the College buildings as are necessary, audit the accounts of the Treas- urer and Steward, make the annual report of the state of the College, superintend the investment of the College funds, in- stitute suhs for the recovery and preservation of the College property, and perform various other duties which are enu- merated in the laws of Yale College. PUBLIC. At Harvard College, the punishment next higher in order to a private admonition is called a puhlic admonition^ and consists in a deduction from the rank of the offender, ac- companied by a letter to the parent or guardian. It is often called a public. See Private. PUBLIC DAY. In the University of Virginia, the day on which "the certificates and diplomas are awarded to the suc- cessful candidates, the results of the examinations are an- nounced, and addresses are delivered by one or more of the Bachelors and Masters of Arts, and by the Orator appointed by the Society of the Alumni." — Cat. of Univ. of Virginia, This occurs on the closing day of the session, the 29th of June. PUBLIC ORATOR. In the English universities, an officer who is the voice of the university on all public occasions, who writes, reads, and records all letters of a public nature, and presents, with an appropriate address, those on whom honorary degrees are conferred. At Cambridge, this is esteemed one of the most honorable offices in the gift of the university. — Cam. and Oxf. Cals. PUNY. A young, inexperienced person ; a novice. Freshmen at Oxford were called punies of the first year. — Hal- liwelVs Diet. Arch, and Prov. Words, PUT THROUGH. A phrase very general in its application. When a student treats, introduces, or assists another, or masters a hard lesson, he is said to put him or it through. In a discourse by the Rev. Dr. Orville Dewey, on the Law of 250 COLLEGE WORDS Progress, referring to these words, he said " he had heard a teacher use the characteristic expression that his pupils should be 'put through'' such and such studies. This, he said, is a modern practice. We put children through phi- losophy, — put them through history, — put them through Euclid. He had no faith in this plan, and wished to see the school teachers set themselves against this forcing process." Q. Q. See Cue. QUAD. At Oxford, the quadrangle or rectangular court of a building. How silently did all come down the staircases into the chapel qiutd, that evening ! — Collegian^ s Guide, p. 88. His mother had been in Oxford only the week before, and had been seen crossing the quad, in tears. — Ibid., p. 144. QUARTER-DAY. The day when quarterly payments are made. The day that completes three months. At Harvard and Yale Colleges, quarter-day, when the officers and instructors receive their quarterly salaries, was formerly observed as a holiday. One of the evils which prevailed among the students of the former institution, about the middle of the last century, was the " riotous disorders frequently committed on the quarter-days and evenings," on one of which, in 1764, " the windows of all the Tutors and divers other windows were broken," so that, in consequence, a vote was passed that " the observation of quarter-days, in distinction from other days, be wholly laid aside, and that the undergraduates be obliged to observe the studying hours and to perform the college exercises on quarter-day, and the day following, as at other times." — Peirce^s Hist. Harv. Univ., p. 216. AND CUSTOMS. 25f QUESTIONIST. In the English universities, a nanne given to those who are in the last term of their college course, and are soon to be examined for honors or degrees. — Webster. In the " Orders agreed upon by the Overseers, at a meet- ing in Harvard College, May 6th, 1850," this word is used in the following sentence: " And, in case any of the Soph- isters, Questionists^ or Inceptors, fail in the premises re- quired at their hands, they shall be deferred to the following year"; but it does not seem to have gained any prevalence in the College, and is used, it is believed, only in this passage. QUILLWHEEL. At the Wesleyan University, " when a student," says a correspondent, " ' knocks under,' or yields a point, he says he quillwheels^ that is, he acknowledges he is wrong." RAG. This word is used at Union College, and is thus ex- plained by a correspondent : " To rag and raggings you will find of very extensive application, they being employed primarily as expressive of what is called by the vulgar, thieving and stealing, but in a more extended sense as meaning superiority. Thus, if one declaims or composes much better than his classmates, he is said to rag all his competitors." The common phrase, " to take the rag q^," i. e. to excel, seems to be the form from which this word has been abbre- viated. RAKE. At Williams and at Bowdoin Colleges, used in the phrase " to rake an X," i. e. to recite perfectly, ten being the number of marks given for the best recitation. RANTERS. At Bethany College, in Virginia, there is " a 252 COLLEGE WORDS « band," says a correspondent, " calling themselves ' Rant- erSj* formed for the purpose of perpetrating all kinds of ras- cality and mischievousness, both on their fellow-students and the neighboring people. The band is commanded by one selected from the party, called the Grand Ranter^ whose orders are to be obeyed under penalty of expulsion of the person offending. Among the tricks commonly in- dulged in are those of robbing hen and turkey roosts, and feasting upon the fruits of their labor, of stealing from the neighbors their horses, to enjoy the pleasure of a midnight ride, and to facilitate their nocturnal perambulations. If detected, and any complaint is made, or if the Faculty are informed of their movements, they seek revenge by shaving the tails and manes of the favorite horses belonging to the person informing, or by some similar trick." RAY. At Bowdoin College it is said " a man has rCt a ray^ when he is totally ignorant of the subject under considera- tion." RAZOR. A writer in the Yale Literary Magazine defines this word in the following sentence : '' Many of the mem- bers of this time-honored institution, from whom we ought to expect better things, not only do their own shaving, but actually make their own razors. But I must explain for the benefit of the uninitiated. A pun, in the elegant College dialect, is called a razor, while an attempt at a pun is styled a sick razor. The sick ones are by far the most numerous ; however, once in a while you meet with one in quite re- spectable health." — Vol. Xlll. p. 283. The meeting will be opened with razors by the Society's jester. — Yale Tomahawk, Nov., 1849. Behold how Duncia leads her chosen sons. All armed with squibs, stale jokes, dull razors, puns. The Gallinipper, Dec, 1849. READ. To be studious ; to practise much reading ; e. g. at Oxford, to read for a first class ; at Cambridge, to read for an honor. In America it is common to speak of " reading law, medicine," &c. AND CUSTOMS. 2Si This system takes for granted that the students have *' read,^^ as it is termed, with a private practitioner of medicine. — Cat. Univ. of Virginia J 1851, p. 25. READER. In the University of Oxford, one who reads lec- tures on scientific subjects. — LyelL READERSHIP. In the University of Oxford, the office of a reader or lecturer on scientific subjects. — Lyell, READING MAN. In the English universities, a reading man is a hard student, or one who is entirely devoted to his collegiate studies. — Webster. The distinction between *' reading men " and *' non-reading men " began to manifest itself. — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 169. READ UP. Students often speak of reading up^ i. e. prepar- ing themselves to write on a subject, by reading the works of authors who have treated of it. REBELLION TREE. At Harvard College, a large elm- tree, which stands to the east of the south entry of Hollis Hall, has long been known by this name. It is supposed to have been planted at the request of Dr. Thaddeus M. Harris. His son. Dr. Thaddeus W. Harris, the present Librarian of the College, says that his father has often told him, that when he held the office of Librarian, in the year 1792, a number of trees were set out in the College yard, and that one was planted opposite his room. No. 7 Hollis Hall, under which he buried a pewter plate, taken from the commons hall. On this plate was inscribed his name, the day of the month, the year, &c. From its situation and appearance, the Rebellion Tree would seem to be the one thus de- scribed ; but it did not receive its name until the year 1807, when the famous rebellion occurred among the students, and perhaps not until within a few years antecedent to the year 1819. At that time, however, this name seems to have been the one by which it was commonly known, from the reference which is made to it in the Rebelliad, a poem written to commemorate the deeds of the rebellion of that year. 22 254 COLLEGE WORDS ^ And roared as loud as he could yell, " Come on, my lads, let us rebel ! With one accord they all agree To dance around Rebellion Tree. Rebelliad, p. 46. But they, rebellious rascals ! flee For shelter to Rebellion Tree. Ibid., p. 60. Stands a tree in front of Hollis, Dear to Harvard over all ; But than desert us, Rather let Rebellion fall. M8. Poem. Other scenes are sometimes enacted under its branches, as the following verses show : — ** When the old year was drawing towards its close. And in its place the gladsome new one rose. Then niembers of each class, with spirits free. Went forth to greet her round Rebellion Tree. Round that old tree, sacred to students' rights. And witness, too, of many wondrous sights, In solemn circle all the students passed ; They danced with spirit, until, tired, at last A pause they make, and some a song propose. Then ' Auld Lang Syne ' from many voices rose. Now, as the lamp of the old year dies out, They greet the new one with exulting shout ; They groan for , and each class they cheer. And thus they usher in the fair new year. Poem before K L. of L O. of O. R, p. 19, 1849. RECENTES. Latin for the English Freshmen. Consult Clap's History of Yale College, 1766, p. 124. RECITATION. In American colleges and schools, the re- hearsal of a lesson by pupils before their instructor. — Web- ster. RECITATION-ROOM. The room where lessons are re- hearsed by pupils before their instructor. In the older American colleges, the rooms of the Tutors were formerly the recitation- rooms of the classes. At Har- AND CUSTOMS. 255 vard College, the benches on which the students sat when reciting were, when not in use, kept in piles, outside of the Tutors' rooms. When the hour of recitation arrived, they would carry them into the room, and again return them to their places when the exercise was finished. One of the favorite amusements of the students was to burn these benches ; the spot selected for the bonfire being usually the green in front of the old meeting-house, or the common. KECITE. Transitively, to rehearse, as a lesson to an in- structor. 2. Intransitively, to rehearse a lesson. The class will recite at eleven o'clock. — Webster, This word is used in both forms in American seminaries. RECTOR. The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland. The same title was formerly given to the president of a college in New England, but it is not now in use. — Webster, The title of Rector was given to the chief officer of Yale College at the time of its foundation, and was continued until the year 1745, when, by " An Act for the more full and complete establishment of Yale College in New Haven," it was changed, among other alterations, to that of President. — Claji^s Annals of Yale College^ p. 47. The chief officer of Harvard College at the time of its foundation was styled Master or Professor. Mr. Dunster was chosen the first President in 1640, and those who suc- ceeded him bore this title until the year 1686, when Mr. Joseph Dudley, having received the commission of President of the Colony, changed for the sake of distinction the title of President of the College to that of Rector, A few years after, the title of President was resumed. — Peirce^s Hist. Harv, Univ. p. 63. REDEAT. Latin ; literally, he may return. " It is the cus- tom in some colleges," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " on coming into residence, to wait on the Dean, and sign your name in a book, kept for that purpose, which is called ' '^ signing your Redeat,'*'* — p. 92. 256 COLLEGE WORDS REFECTORY. At Oxford, Eng., the place where the mem- bers of each college or hall dine. This word was originally applied to an apartment in convents and monasteries, where a moderate repast was taken. — Brande, In Oxford there are nineteen colleges and five halls, containing dwelling rooms for the students, and a distinct refectory or dining- hall, library, and chapel to each college and hall. — Oxf. Guide ^ 1847, p. xvi. At Princeton College, this name is given to the hall where the students eat together in common. — Abbreviated Refec. REGENT. In the English universities, the regents, or re- gentes^ are members of the university who have certain peculiar duties of instruction or government. At Cambridge, all resident Masters of Arts of less than four years' standing, and all Doctors of less than two, are Regents. At Oxford, the period of regency is shorter. At both universities, those of a more advanced standing, who keep their names on the college books, are called non-regents. At Cambridge, the regents compose the upper house, and the non-regents the lower house of the Senate, or governing body. At Oxford, the regents compose the Congregation^ which confers de- grees, and does the ordinary business of the university. The regents and non-regents, collectively, compose the Coti" vocation^ which is the governing body in the last resort. — Webster. 2. In the State of New York, the member of a corporate body which is invested with the superintendence of all the colleges, academies, and schools in the State. This board consists of twenty-one members, who are called the Re- gents of the University of the State of New York. They are appointed and removable by the legislature. They have power to grant acts of incorporation for colleges, to visit and inspect all colleges, academies, and schools, and to make regulations for governing the same. — Statutes of New York. 3. At Harvard College, an officer chosen from the Faculty^ whose duties are under the immediate direction of the Pres- ident. All weekly lists of absences, monitor's bills, peti- AND CUSTOMS. 257 tions to the Faculty for excuse of absences from the regular exercises and for making up lessons, all petitions for elective studies, the returns of the scale of merit, and returns of de- linquencies and deductions by the tutors and proctors, are left with the Regent, or deposited in his office. The Regent also informs those who petition for excuses, and for elective studies, of the decision of the Faculty in regard to their petitions. Formerly, the Regent assisted in making out the quarter or term bills, of which he kept a record, and when students were punished by fining, he was obliged to keep an account of the fines, and the offences for which they were imposed. Some of his duties were performed by a Fresh- man, who was appointed by the Faculty. — Laws Harv. Coll, 1814, and Regulations^ 1850. See Freshman, Regent's. REGISTER. In Union College, an officer whose duties are similar to those enumerated under Registrar. He also acts, without charge, as fiscal guardian for all students who deposit funds in his hands. REGISTRAR, ) In the English universities, an officer REGISTRARY. \ who has the keeping of all the public records. — Encyc. At Harvard College, the Corporation appoint one of the Faculty to the office of Registrar. He keeps a record of the votes and orders passed by the latter body, gives certified copies of the same when requisite, and performs other like duties. — Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass., 1848. REGIUS PROFESSOR. A name given in the British uni- versities to the incumbents of those professorships which have been founded by royal bounty. REGULATORS. At Hamilton College, "a Junior Class affair," writes a correspondent, " consisting of fifteen or twenty members, whose object is to regulate college laws and customs according to their own way. They are known only by their deeds. Who the members are, no one out of the band knows. Their time for action is in the night." 22* 258 COLLEGE WORDS RELIG. At Princeton College, an abbreviated name for a professor of religion. REPLICATOR. "The first discussions of the Society, called Forensic, were in writing, and conducted by only two mem- bers, styled the Respondent and the Opponent. Subsequently, a third was added, called a Replicator^ who reviewed the arguments of the other two, and decided upon their com- parative merits." — Semi- centennial Anniversary of thePhU lomathean Society, Union Coll., p. 9. REPORT. A word much in use among the students of universities and colleges, in the common sense of to inform against, but usually spoken in reference to the Faculty. Thanks to the friendly proctor who spared to report me. Harvardiana^ Vol. III. p. 79. If I hear again Of such fell outrage to the college laws, Of such loud tumult after eight o'clock, Thou 'It be reported to the Faculty. — Ibid, p. 257. RESIDENT GRADUATE. In the United States, graduates who are desirous of pursuing their studies in the place where a college is situated, without joining any of its departments, can do so in the capacity of residents or resident graduates. They are allowed to attend the public lectures given in the institution, and enjoy the use of its library. Like other > students, they give bonds for the payment of college dues. ColL Laws. RESPONDENT. In the schools, one who maintains a thesis in reply, and whose province is to refute objections, or over- throw arguments. — Watts. This word, with its companion affirmant, was formerly used in American colleges, and was applied to those who engaged in the syllogistic discussions then incident to Com- mencement. But the main exercises were disputations upon questions, wherein the respondents first made their theses. — Mather'' s Magnalia, B. IV. p. 128. The syllogistic disputes were held between an affirmant and re- AND CUSTOMS. 259 spondent, who stood in the side galleries of the church opposite to one another, and shot the weapons of their logic over the heads of the audience. — Pres. WooIsei/^s Hist. Disc. Yale Coll., p. 65. RESPONSION. In the University of Oxford, an examina- tion about the middle of the college course, also called the Little-go, — LyelL See LiTTLE-GO. RETRO. Latin ; literally, hack. Among the students of the University of Cambridge, Eng., used to designate a behind' hand account. " A cook'^ bill of extraordinaries not settled by the Tutor." — Gradus ad Cantab, REVIEW. A second or repeated examination of a lesson, or the lesson itself thus reexamined. He cannot get the ** advance," forgets ** the review.''^ Childe Harvard, p. 13. ROOM. To occupy an apartment ; to lodge ; an academic use of the word, — Webster. Inquire of any student at our colleges where Mr. B. lodges, and you will be told he rooms in such a building, such a story, or up so many flight of stairs, No. — , to the right or left. The Rowes, years ago, used to room in Dartmouth Hall. — The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117. ROOT. A word first used in the sense given below by Dr. Paley. " He [Paley] held, indeed, all those little arts of underhand address, by which patronage and preferment are so frequently pursued, in supreme contempt. He was not of a nature to root ; for that was his own expressive term, afterwards much used in the University to denote the sort of practice alluded to. He one day humorously proposed at some social meeting, that a certain contemporary fellow of his college [Christ's College, Cambridge, Eng.], at that time distinguished for his elegant and engaging manners, and who has since attained no small eminence in the Church of Eng- land, should be appointed prq/e.ssor of rooting.'^'' — Memoirs of Paley, ROWES. The name of a party which formerly existed at 260 COLLEGE WORDS Dartmoutli College. They are thus described in The Dart- mouth, Vol. IV. p. 1 17 : " The Rowes are very liberal in their notions. The Howes don 't pretend to say any thing worse of a fellow than to call him a Blue^ and vice versd^ See Blues. ROWING. The making of loud and noisy disturbances; acting like a rowdy. Flushed with the juice of the grape, all prime and ready for rowing, When from the ground I raised the fragments of ponderous brickbat. Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 98. ROWL. At Princeton, Union, and Hamilton Colleges, this word is used to signify a good recitation. Used in the phrase, " to make a rowV* From the second of these Col- leges, a correspondent writes: " Also of the word rowl ; if a public speaker presents a telling appeal or passage, he would make a 'perfect rowl^ in the language of all students, at least." ROWL. To recite well. A correspondent from Princeton College defines this word, "to perform any exercise well, recitation, speech, or composition ; to succeed in any branch or pursuit." RUSH. At Yale College, a perfect recitation is denominated a rush. I got my lesson perfectly, and what is more, made a perfect riu^lu Yak Lit. Mag., Vol. XIII. p. 134. This mark [that of a hammer with a note, " hit the nail on the head,"] signifies that the student makes a capital hit, in other words a decided rush. — Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846. In dreams his many rushes heard. Ibid., Oct. 22, 1847. This word is much used among students with the common meaning ; thus, they speak of " a rush into prayers," " a rush into the recitation-room," &c. A correspondent from Dartmouth College says : " Rushing the Freshmen is putting tbem out of the chapel." Another from AVilliams writes : " Such a man is making a rush^ and to this we often add — for the Valedictory." AND CUSTOMS. 261 The gay regatta where the Oneida led, The glorious rushes, Seniors at the head. Class Poem, Harv. Coll., 1849. RUSH. To recite well ; to make a perfect recitation. It was purchased by the man, — who * really did not look ' at the lesson on which he * rushed.^ — Yale Lit, Mag., Vol. XIV. p. 411. Then for the students mark flunks, even though the young men may be rushing. — Yale Banger, Oct., 1848. RUSTICATE. To send a student for a time from a college or university, to reside in theicountry, by way of punishment for some offence. And those whose crimes are very great, Let us suspend or rusticate. — Rebelliad, p. 24. The *' scope " of what I have to state Is to suspend and rusticate. — Ibid., p. 28. The same meaning is thus paraphrastically conveyed : — By my official power, I swear. That you shall smell the country air. — Rebelliad, p. 45. RUSTICATION. In universities and colleges, the punishment of a student for some offence, by compelling him to leave the institution, and reside for a time in the country. — Weh» ster. It seems plain from his own verses to Diodati, that Milton had in- curred rustication, — a temporary dismission into the country, with, perhaps, the loss of a term. — Johnson. Take then this friendly exhortation, The next offence is Rustication. MS. Poem, by John Q. Adams. RUST-RINGING. At Hamilton College, " the Freshmen," writes a correspondent, '* are supposed to lose some of their verdancy at the end of the last term of that year, and the ' ringing off their rust ' consists in ringing the chapel bell — commencing at midnight — until the rope wears out. Dur- ing the ringing, the upper classes are diverted by the display of numerous fire-works, and enlivened by most beautifully discordant sounds, called ' music,' made to issue from tin kettle-drums, horse-fiddles, trumpets, horns, &c., &c.'l. 262 COLLEGE WORDS s. SAIL. At Bowdoin College, a sail is a perfect recitation. To sail is to recite perfectly. SALTING THE FRESHMEN. In reference to this custom, which belongs to Dartmouth College, a correspondent from that institution writes : " There is an annual trick of ' salt- ing the Freshmen^^ which is putting salt and water on their seats, so that their clothes ate injured when they sit down." The idea of preservation, cleanliness, and health is no doubt intended to be conveyed by the use of the wholesome articles salt and water. SALUTATORIAN. The student of a college who pronounces the salutatory oration at the annual Commencement. — Weh- ster. SALUTATORY. An epithet applied to the oration which introduces the exercises of the Commencements in American colleges. — Webster. The oration is often called, simply, the Salutatory, And we ask our friends ** out in the world," whenever they meet an educated man of the class of '49, not to ask if he had the Vale- dictory or Salutatory, but if he takes the Indicator. — Amherst Indi- cator, Vol. 11. p. 96. SATIS. Latin ; literally, enough. In the University of Cam- bridge, Eng., the lowest honor in the schools. The manner in which this word is used is explained in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, as follows: ^^ Satis disputasti ; which is as much as to say, in the colloquial style, ' Bad enough.' Satis et bene disputasti^ ' Pretty fair, — tolerable.' Satis et optime disputasti^ ' Go thy ways, thou flower and quintessence of Wranglers.' Such are the compliments to be expected from the Moderator, after the act is kepty — p. 95. S. B. An abbreviation for Scientice Baccalaureus^ Bachelor in Science. At Harvard College, this degree is conferred on those who have pursued a prescribed course of study for AND CUSTOMS. 26ft at least one year in the Scientific School, and at the end of that period passed a satisfactory examination. The different degrees of excellence are expressed in the diploma by the words, cum laude^ cum magna laude, cum summa laude. SCHOLAR. Any member of a college, academy, or school. 2. An undergraduate in English universities, who belongs to the foundation of a college, and receives support in part from its revenues. — Wehster, SCFIOLARSFIIP. Exhibition or maintenance for a scholar; foundation for the support of a student. — Ainsworth. SCHOOL. The Schools, pi. ; the seminaries for teaching logic, metaphysics, and theology, which were formed in the Middle Ages, and which were characterized by academical disputations and subtilties of reasoning ; or the learned men who were engaged in discussing nice points in metaphysics or theology. — Wehster, 2. In some American colleges, the different departments for teaching law, medicine, divinity, &c., are denominated schools. In the English universities the examination in the schools precedes that which takes place in the Senate-House. The principal exercises consist of disputations in philosophy, divinity, and law, and are always conducted in a sort of bar- barous Latin. I attended the scJiools several times, with the view of acquiring the tact and self-possession so requisite in these public contests. — Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 39. SCONCE. To mulct ; to fine. Used at the University of Oxford. A young fellow of Baliol College, having, upon some discontent, cut his throat very dangerously, the Master of the College sent his servitor to the buttery-book to sconce (i. e. fine) him 5s. ; and, says the Doctor, tell him the next time he cuts his throat I '11 sconce him ten. — Terrce-Filius, No. 39. Was sconced in a quart of ale for quoting Latin, a passage from Juvenal ; murmured, and the fine was doubled. — The Etonian, Vol. II. p. 391. 264 COLLEGE WORDS SCOUT. A cant term at Oxford for a college servant or waiter. — Oxford Guide, My scout^ indeed, is a very learned fellow, and has an excellent knack at using hard words. One morning he told rae the gentle- man in the next room contagious to mine desired to speak to me. I once overheard him give a fellow-servant very sober advice not to go astray, but be true to his own wife ; for idolatry would surely bring a man to instruction at last. — TJie Student, Oxf. and Cam., Vol. I. p. b5, 1750. An ante-room, or vestibule, which serves the purpose of a scoufs pantry. — The Etonian, Vol. II. p. 280. Sometimes used in American colleges. In order to quiet him, we had to send for his factotum or scout, an old black fellow. — Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XI. p. 282. SCRAPE. To insult by drawing the feet over the floor. — Grose. But in a manner quite uncivil, They hissed and scraped him like the devil. Rebelliad, p. 37. ** I do insist," Quoth he, *' that two, who scraped and hissed, Shall be condemned without a jury To pass the winter months in rui^e,^' — Ibid., p. 41. They not unfrequently rose to open outrage or some personal molestation, as casting missiles through his windows at night, or ** scraping him " by day. — A Tour through College, p. 25. Bos- ton, 1832. SCRAPING. A drawing of the feet over the floor, as an in- sult to some one, or merely to cause disturbance ; a shuf- fling of the feet. New lustre was added to the dignity of their feelings by the pathetic and impressive manner in which they expressed them, which was by stamping and scraping majestically with their feet, when in the presence of the detested tutors. — Don Quixotes at College, 1807. The morning and evening daily prayers were, on the next day (Thursday), interrupted by scraping, whistling, groaning, and other disgraceful noises. — Circular, Harvard College, 1834, p. 9. This word is used in the universities and colleges of both England and America. AND CUSTOMS. 265 SCREW. In some American colleges, an excessive, unneces- sarily minute, and annoying examination of a student by an instructor is called a screw. The instructor is often desig- nated by the same name. An imperfect recitation is some- times thus denominated. Haunted by day with fearful screw. Harvard Lyceum, p. 102. Screios, duns, and other such like evils. Rebelliadf p. 77. One must experience all the stammering and stuttering, the un- ending doubtings and guessings, to understand fully the power of a mathematical screw. — Harv. Reg., p. 378. The consequence was, a patient submission to the screw, and a loss of college honors and patronage. — A Tour through College, p. 26. Boston, 1832. I '11 tell him a whopper next time, and astonish him so that he '11 forget his screws. — Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XL p. 336. What a darned screw our tutor is. — Ibid. We 've felt the cruel, torturing screw, And oft its driver's ire. Song, Sophomore Supper, Bowdoin Coll., 1850. Passing such an examination is often denominated taking a screw. And sad it is to take a screio. Harv. Reg., p. 287. SCREW. To press with an excessive and unnecessarily mi- nute examination. Who would let a tutor knave Screw him like a Guinea slave ! Rehelliad, p. 53. Have I been screwed, yea, deaded morn and eve. Some dozen moons of this collegiate life ? Harvardiana, Vol. HI. p. 255. O, I do well remember when in college. How we fought reason , — battles all in play, — Under a most portentous man of knowledge, 'XhQ captain-general in the bloodless fray ; 23 266 COLLEGE WORDS He was a wise man, and a good man, too, And robed himself in green whene'er he came to screw. Our Chronicle of '26, Boston, 1827. In a note to the last quotation, the author says of the word screw : " For the information of the inexperienced, we explain this as a term quite rife in the universities, and, taken substantively, signifying an intellectual non-plus." SCROUGE. An exaction. A very long lesson, or any hard or unpleasant task, is usually among students denominated a scrouge, SCROUGE. To exact ; to extort ; said of an instructor who imposes difficult tasks on his pupils. It is used provincially in England, and in America in some of the Northern and Southern States, with the mean- ing to crowds to squeeze. — Bartletf^s Diet, of American^ isms. SCRUTATOR. In the University of Cambridge, England, an officer whose duty it is to attend all Congregations^ to read the graces to the lower house of the senate, to gather the votes secretly, or to take them openly in scrutiny, and publicly to pronounce the assent or dissent of that house. — Cam. Cal. SECOND-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, England, the title of Second-Year Men^ or Junior Sophs or Sophisters^ is given to students during the second year of their residence at the University. SEED. In Yale College this word is used to designate what is understood by the common cant terms, '' a youth " ; " case " ; " bird " ; " b'hoy " ; " one of 'em." While tutors, every sport defeating, And under feet-worn stairs secreting. And each dark lane and alley beating, Hunt up the seeds in vain retreating. Yale Banger, Nov., 1849. The wretch had dared to flunk a gory seed! Ibid., Nov., 1849. AND CUSTOMS. 267 One tells his jokes, the other tells his beads, One talks of saints, the other sings oi seeds. Ibid,, Nov., 1849. But we are " seed^,^^ whose rowdy deeds Make up the drunken tale. Yale Tomahawk, Nov., 1849. First Greek he enters ; and with reckless speed, He drags o'er stumps and roots each hapless seed. Ibid,, Nov., 1849. SEEDY. Rowdy ; riotous ; turbulent. And snowballs, falling thick and fast As oaths from seedy Senior crowd. Yale Gallinipper, Nov., 1848. A seedy Soph beneath a tree. Yale Battery, Feb., 1850. SELL. An unexpected reply ; a deception or trick. In the Literary World, March 15, 1851, is the following explanation of this word : " Mr. Phillips's first introduction to Curran was made the occasion of a mystification, or prac- tical joke, in which Irish wits have excelled since the time of Dean Swift, who was wont {vide his letters to Stella) to call these jocose tricks ' a sell,'* from selling a bargain." The word bargain, however, which Johnson, in his Diction- ary, defines " an unexpected reply tending to obscenity," was formerly used more generally among the English wits. The noun sell has of late been revived in this country, and is used to a certain extent in New York and Boston, and especially among the students at Cambridge. I sought some hope to borrow, by thinking it a ** sell,*^ By fancying it a fiction, my anguish to dispel. Poem before the ladma of Harv. Coll., 1850, p. 8. SELL. To give an unexpected answer ; to deceive ; to cheat. The use of this verb is much more common in the United States than that of the noun of the same spelling, which is derived from it ; for instance, we frequently read in the newspapers that the Whigs or Democrats have been sold^ i. e. defeated in an election, or cheated in some political affair. The phrase to sell a bargain, which Bailey defines " to put a 268 COLLEGE WORDS sham upon one," is now scarcely ever heard. It was once a favorite expression with certain English writers. Where sold he bargains, Whipstitch 1 — Dry den. No maid at court is less ashamed, Howe'er for selling bargains famed. — Swift. Dr. Sheridan, famous for punning, intending to sell a bargain, said, he had made a very good pun. -— Swift, Bons Mots de Stella. SEMESTER. Latin, semestris, sex, six, and mensis, month. In the German universities, a period or term of six months. The course of instruction occupies six semesters. Class dis- tinctions depend upon the number of semesters, not of years. During the first semester, the student is called Fox, in the second Burnt Fox, and then, successively, Young Bursch, Old Bursch, Old Hoicse, and Moss-covered Head. SENATE. In the University of Cambridge, England, the governing body of the University. It is divided into two houses, denominated regents (regentes) and non-regents (non-regentes). The former consists of masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and doctors of less than two, and is called the upper house, or white-hood house, from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk. All other masters and doctors who keep their names on the college books are non-regents, and compose the lower house, or hlack'hood house, its members wearing black silk hoods. — Webster, Cam. Cal. SENATE. At Union College, the members of the Senior Class form what is called the Senate, a body organized after the manner of the Senate of the United States, for the pur- pose of becoming acquainted with the forms and practice of legislation. The members of the Junior Class compose the House of Representatives. The following account, showing in what manner the Senate is conducted, has been furnished by a member of Union College. " On the last Friday of the third term, the House of Rep- resentatives meet in their hall, and await their initiation to the Upper House. There soon appears a committee of AND CUSTOMS. 269 three, who inform them by their chairman of the readiness of the Senate to receive them, and perhaps enlarge upon the importance of the coming trust, and the ability of the House to fill it. " When this has been done, the House, headed by the Committee, proceed to the Senate Chamber (Senior Chapel), and are arranged by the committee around the President, the Senators (Seniors) meanwhile having taken the second floor. The President of the Senate then rises and delivers an appropriate address, informing them of their new dignities and the grave responsibilities of their station. At the con- clusion of this they take their seats, and proceed to the elec- tion of officers, viz. a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The President must be a member of the Faculty, and is chosen for a term ; the other officers are selected from the House, and continue in office but half a term. The first Vice-Presidency of the Senate is considered one of the highest honors conferred by the class, and great is the strife to obtain it. " The Senate meet again on the second Friday of the next term, when they receive the inaugural message of the President. He then divides them into seven districts, each district including the students residing in a Section, or Hall of College, except the seventh, which is filled by the students lodging in town. The Senate is also divided into a number of standing committees, as Law, Ethics, Political Economy. Business is referred to these committees, and reported on by them in the usual manner. The time of the Senate is prin- cipally occupied with the discussion of resolutions, in a com- mittee of the whole ; and these discussions take the place of the usual Friday afternoon recitation. At Commencement the Senate have an orator of their own election, who must, however, have been a past or honorary member of their body. They also have a committee on the ' Commence- ment Card.' " See Commencement Card ; House of Representatives. SENE. An abbreviation for Senior. 23* 270 COLLEGE WORDS Magnificent Juns, and lazy Senes, — Yale Banger , Nov. 10, 1846. A rare young blade is the gallant Sene. Ibid., Nov., 1850. SENIOR. One in the fourth year of his collegiate course at an American college ; originally called Senior Sophister, Also one in the third year of his course at a theological seminary. — Wehster. See Sophister. SENIOR. Noting the fourth year of the collegiate course in the American colleges, or the third year in theological semi- naries. — Wehster. SENIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his third year after taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is further explained by President VVoolsey, in his Historical Discourse : " Bache- lors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors accord- ing to the year since graduation and before taking the degree of Master."— p. 122. SENIORITY. In the University of Cambridge, England, the eight senior Fellows and the Master of a college compose what is called the Seniority. Their decisions in all matters are generally conclusive. My duty now obliges me, however reluctantly, to bring you be- fore the Seniority, — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 75. SENIOR ORATION. "The custom of delivering Senior Orations^'''' says a correspondent, " is, I think, confined to Washington and Jefferson Colleges in Pennsylvania. Each member of the Senior Class, taking them in alphabetical or- der, is required to deliver an oration before graduating, and on such nights as the Faculty may decide. The public are invited to attend, and the speaking is continued at appointed times, until each member of the Class has spoken." SENIOR WRANGLER. See Wrangler. SEQUESTER. To cause to retire or withdraw into ob- scurity. In the following passage it is used in the collegiate sense of suspend or rusticate. AND CUSTOMS. ^f% Though they were adulti, they were corrected in the College, and sequestered f Sic, for a time. — Winthrop^s Journal^ by Sav- age, Vol. II. p. 88. SERVITOR. In the University of Oxford, an undergraduate who is partly supported by the college funds. They for- merly waited at table, but this is now dispensed with. The order similar to that of the servitor was at Cambridge styled the order of suhsizars. This has been long extinct. The sizar at Cambridge is at present nearly equivalent to the Oxford servitor, — Gent. Mag.^ 1787, p. 1146. Brande, A reference to the cruel custom of* hunting the servitor" is to be found in Sir John Hawkins's Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 12. SESSION. At some of the Southern and Western colleges of the United States, the time during which instruction is reg- ularly given to the students ; a term. The session commences on the 1st of October, and continues with- out interruption until the 29th of June. — Ckit. of Univ, of Vir- ginia, 1851, p. 15. SEVENTY-EIGHTH PSALM. The recollections which cluster around this Psalm, so well known to all the Alumni of Harvard, are of the most pleasant nature. For more than a hundred years, it has been sung at the dinner given on Commencement day at Cambridge, and for a half-cen- tury to the tune of St. Martin's. Mr. Samuel Shapleigh, who graduated at Harvard College in the year 1789, and who was afterwards its Librarian, on the leaf of a hymn-book makes a memorandum in reference to this Psalm, to the effect that it has been sung at Cambridge on Commencement day " from time immemorial y The late Rev. Dr. John Pierce, a graduate of the class of 1793, referring to the same subject, remarks : " The Seventy-eighth Psalm, it is supposed, has, from the foundation of the College^ been sung in the common version of the day." In a poem, en- titled Education, delivered at Cambridge before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, by Mr. William Biglow, July 18th, 1799, speaking of the conduct and manners of the students, the author says : — 272 COLLEGE WORDS " Like pigs they eat, they drink an ocean dry, They steal like France, like Jacobins they lie, They raise the very Devil, when called to prayers, * To sons transmit the same, and they again to theirs ' " ; and, in explanation of the last line, adds this note : " Allud- ing to the Psalm which is always sung in Harvard Hall on Commencement day." But that we cannot take these ac- counts as correct in their full extent, appears from an entry in the MS. Diary of Chief Justice Sewall relating to a Com- mencement in 1685, which he closes with these words: " After Dinner y^ 3d part of y^ 103d Ps. was sung in y^ Hall." In the year 1793, at the dinner on Commencement Day, the Rev. Joseph Willard, then President of the College, re- quested Mr., afterwards Dr. John Pierce, to set the tune to the Psalm ; with which request having complied to the sat- isfaction of all present, he from that period until the time of his death, in 1849, performed this service, being absent only on one occasion. Those who have attended Commencement dinners during the latter part of this period cannot but asso- ciate with this hallowed Psalm the venerable appearance and the benevolent countenance of this excellent man. In presenting a list of the different versions in which this Psalm has been sung, it must not be supposed that entire correctness has been reached ; the very scanty accounts which remain render this almost impossible, but from these, which on a question of greater importance might be con- sidered hardly sufficient, it would appear that the following are the versions in which the sons of Harvard have been ac- customed to sing the Psalm of the son of Jesse. 1. — The New England Version. " In 1639 there was an agreement amo. y** Magistrates and Ministers to set aside y^ Psalms then printed at y* end of their Bibles, and sing one more congenial to their ideas of religion." Rev. Mr. Richard Mather of Dorchester, and Rev. Mr. Thomas Weld and Rev. Mr. John Eliot of Rox- bury, were selected to make a metrical translation, to whom AND CUSTOMS. 273 the Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge gives the following metrical caution : — ** Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of y® crime Of missing to give us very good rhyme, And you of Dorchester, your* verses lengthen, But with the texts ovi^n words you will y"" strengthen." The version of this ministerial trio was printed in the year 1640, at Cambridge, and has the honor of being the first production of the American press that rises to the dignity of a hook. It was entitled, " The Psalms newly turned into Metre." A second edition was printed in 1647. " It was more to be commended, however," says Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard University, '* for its fidelity to the text, than for the elegance of its versification, which, having been executed by persons of different tastes and talents, was not only very uncouth, but deficient in uniformity. President Dunster, who was an excellent Oriental scholar, and pos- sessed the other requisite qualifications for the task, was em- ployed to revise and polish it ; and in two or three years, with the assistance of Mr. Richard Lyon, a young gentle- man who was sent from England by Sir Henry Mildmay to attend his son, then a student in Harvard College, he pro- duced a work, which, under the appellation of the ' Bay Psalm-Book,' was, for a long time, the received version in the New England congregations, was also used in many so- cieties in England and Scotland, and passed through a great number of editions, both at home and abroad." — p. 14. The Seventy-eighth Psalm is thus rendered in the first edition : — Give listning eare unto my law, Yee people that are mine, Unto the sayings of my mouth Doe yee your eare incline. My mouth I 'le ope, in parables, I 'le speak hid things of old : Which we have heard, and knowne : and which Our fathers have us told. Them from their children wee '1 not hide, To th' after age shewing 274 COLLEGE WORDS The Lords prayses : his streng^ih, and works Of his wondrous doing. In Jacob he a witnesse set, And put in Israeli A law, which he our fathers charg'd, They should their children tell : That th' age to come, and children which Are to be borne might know ; That they might rise up and the same Unto their children show. That they upon the mighty God Their confidence might set : And Gods works and his commandment Might keep and not forget, And might not like their fathers be, A stiffe, stout race ; a race That set not right their hearts : nor firme With God their spirit was. The Bay Psalm-Book underwent many changes in the various editions through which it passed, nor was this psalm left untouched, as will be seen by referring to the twenty-sixth edition, published in 1744, and to the edition of 1758, revised and corrected, with additions, by Mr. Thomas Prince. 2. — Waits'^s Version. The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts were first pub- lished in this country by Dr. Franklin, in the year 1741. His version is as follows : — Let children hear the mighty deeds Which God performed of old ; Which in our younger years we saw, And which our fathers told. He bids us make his glories known, His works of power and grace, And we '11 convey his wonders down Through every rising race. Our lips shall tell them to our sons. And they again to theirs, AND CUSTOMS. 275 That generations yet unborn May teach thera to their heirs. Thus shall they learn in God alone Their hope securely stands, That they may ne'er forget his works, But practise his commands, 3. — Brady and Tate^s Version, In the year 1803, the Seventy-eighth Psalm was first printed on a snnall sheet and placed under every plate, which practice has since been always adopted. The version of that year was from Brady and Tate's collection, first pub- lished in London in 1698, and in this country about the year 1741. It was sung to the tune of St. Martin's in 1805, as appears from a memorandum in ink on the back of one of the sheets for that year, which reads, *' Sung in the hall. Commencement Day, tune St. Martin's, 1805." From the statements of graduates of the last century, it seems that this had been the customary tune for some time previous to this year, and it is still retained as a precious legacy of the past. St. Martin's was composed by William Tans'ur in the year 1735. The following is the version of Brady and Tate : — Hear, O my people, to my law, Devout attention lend ; Let the instruction of my mouth Deep in your hearts descend. My tongue, by inspiration taught, Shall parables unfold, Dark oracles, but understood. And owned for truths of old ; Which we from sacred registers Of ancient times have known, And our forefathers' pious care To us has handed down. We will not hide them from our sons ; Our offspring shall be taught The praises of the Lord, whose strength Has works of wonders wroutjht. 276 COLLEGE WORDS For Jacob he this law ordained, This league with Israel made ; With charge, to be from age to age, From race to race, conveyed, That generations yet to come Should to their unborn heirs Religiously transmit the same, And they again to theirs. To teach them that in God alone Their hope securely stands ; That they should ne'er his works forget. But keep his just commands. 4. — From Belknap^ s Collection, This collection was first published by the Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap, at Boston, in 1795. The version of the Seventy- eighth Psalm is partly from that of Brady and Tate, and partly from Dr. Watts's, with a few slight variations. It succeeded the version of Brady and Tate about the year 1820, and is the one which is now used. The first three stanzas were written by Brady and Tate ; the last three by Dr. Watts. It has of late been customary to omit the last stanza in singing and in printing. Give ear, ye children ; * to my law Devout attention lend ; Let the instructions f of my mouth Deep in your hearts descend. My tongue, by inspiration taught, Shall parables unfold ; Dark oracles, but understood. And owned for truths of old ; Which we from sacred registers Of ancient times have known. And our forefathers' pious care To us has handed down. * In Brady and Tate, * Hear, O my people," etc. t In Brady and Tate, "instruction." AND CUSTOMS. 277 Let children learn * the mighty deeds Which God performed of old ; Which, in our younger years, we saw, And which our fathers told. Our lips shall tell them to our sons, And they again to theirs ; That generations yet unborn May teach them to their heirs. Thus shall they learn in God alone Their hope securely stands ; That they may ne'er forget his works, But practise his commands. It has been supposed by some that the version of the Seventy-eighth Psalm by Sternhold and Hopkins, whose spir- itual songs were usually printed, as appears above, " at y* end of their Bibles," was the first which was sung at Com- mencement dinners ; but this does not seem at all probable, since the first Commencement at Cambridge did not take place until 1642, at which time the " Bay Psalm-Book,'' written by three of the most popular ministers of the day, had already been published two years. SHEEPSKIN. The parchment diploma received by students on taking their degree at college. " In the back settlements are many clergymen who have not had the advantages of a liberal education, and who consequently have no di- plomas. Some of these look upon their more favored brethren with a little envy. A clergyman is said to have a sheepskin^ or to be a sheepskin^ when educated at college." — Bartlett'^s Diet, of Americanisms, This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor toted about no sheepskins, — no, never ! . . . . How you 'd a perished in your sins, if the first preachers had stayed till they got sheepskins, — Carlton's New Purchase. I can say as well as the best on them sheepskins, if you don't get religion and be saved, you '11 be lost, teetotally and for ever. — {Ser- mon of an Itinerant Preacher at a Camp-Meeting.) — Ibid. * Watts, " hear." 24 278 COLLEGE WORDS As for John Prescot, he not only lost the valedictory, but barely escaped with his '* sheepskin.^ ^ — Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. X. p. 74. SHIN. To tease or hector a person by kicking his shins. In some colleges this is one of the means which the Sopho- mores adopt to torment the Freshmen, especially when play- ing at football, or other similar games. We have been shinned, smoked, ducked, and accelerated by the encouraging shouts of our generous friends. — Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846. SHINE. At Harvard College this word was formerly used to designate a good recitation. Used in the phrase, " to make a shine,'*'' SHINNY. At Princeton College, the game of Shinny^ known also by the names of Hawky and Hurly^ is as great a favorite with the students as is football at other colleges. " The players," says a correspondent, " are each furnished with a stick four or five feet in length and one and a half or two inches in diameter, curved at one end, the object of which is to give the ball a surer blow. The ball is about three inches in diameter, bound with thick leather. The players are divided into two parties, arranged along from one goal to the other. The ball is then ''bucked ' by two players, one from each side, which is done by one of these two taking the ball and asking his opponent which he will have, ' high, or low ' ; if he says ' high,' the ball is thrown up mid- way between them ; if he says ' low,' the ball is thrown on the ground. The game is opened by a scuffle between these two for the ball. The other players then join in, one party knocking towards North College, which is one ' home ' (as it is termed), and the other towards the fence bounding the south side of the Campus, the other home. Whichever party first gets the ball home wins the game. A grand contest takes place annually between the Juniors and Soph- omores, in this game." SHIP. At Emory College, Ga., one expelled from college is said to be shipped. AND CUSTOMS. 279 SHORT EAR. At Jefferson College, Penn., a soubriquet for a roistering, noisy fellow ; a rowdy. Opposed ito long ear, SIR. It was formerly the fashion in the older American col- leges to call a Bachelor of Arts, Sir ; this was sometimes done at the time when the Seniors were accepted for that degree. Voted, Sept. 5th, 1763, *' that Sir Sewall, B. A., be the In- structor in the Hebrew and other learned languages for three years." — Peirce^s Hist, Harv. Univ., p. 234. December, 1790. Some time in this month. Sir Adams resigned the berth of Butler, and Sir Samuel Shapleigh was chosen in his stead . — MS. Journal, Harv, Coll, Then succeeded Cliosophic Oration in Latin, by Sir Meigs. Poetical Composition in English, by Sir Barlow, — Woolsei/'^s Hist. Disc, p. 121. SITTING OF THE SOLSTICES. It was customary, in the early days of Harvard College, for the graduates of the year to attend in the recitation-room on Mondays and Tues- days, for three weeks, during the month of June, subject to the examination of all who chose to visit them. This was called the Sitting of the Solstices^ because it hap- pened in midsummer, or at the time of the summer solstice. The time was also known as the Weeks of Visitation. SIZAR, J In the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student SISAR, V of the third rank, or that next below that of a SIZER. ) pensioner, who eats at the public table after the fellows, free of expense. It was formerly customary for every fellow-commoner to have his sizar^ to whom he allowed a certain portion of commons, or victuals and drink weekly, but no money ; and for this the sizar was obliged to do him certain services daily. A lower order of students were called suh-sizars. In reference to this class, we take the following from the Gen- tleman's Magazine, 1787, p. 1146. "At King's College, they were styled hounds. The situation of a sub-sizar being looked upon in so degrading a light probably occa- sioned the extinction of the order. But as the sub-sizars 280 COLLEGE WORDS had certain assistances in return for their humiliating services, and as the poverty of parents stood in need of such assist- ances for their sons, some of the sizars undertook the same offices for the same advantages. The master's sizar, there- fore, waited upon him for the sake of his commons, etc., as the sub-sizar had done ; and the other sizars did the same office to the fellows for the advantage of the remains of their commons. Thus the term sub-sizar became forgotten, and the sizar was supposed to be the same as the servitor. But if a sizar did not choose to accept of these assistances upon such degrading terms, he dined in his own room, and was called a proper sizar. He wore the same gown as the others, and his tutorage, etc., was no higher ; but there was nothing servile in his situation." — " Now, indeed, all (or almost all) the colleges in Cambridge have allowed the sizars every advantage of the remains of the fellows' com- mons, etc., though they have very liberally exempted them from every servile office." Another writer in the same periodical; 1795, p. 21, says: The sizar " is very much like the scholars at Westminster, Eton, &c., who are on the foundation ; and is, in a manner, the half hoarder in private academies. The name was derived from the menial services in which he was occasion- ally engaged ; being in former days compelled to transport the plates, dishes, sizes ^ and platters, to and from the tables of his superiors." A writer in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, at the close of the article Sizar, says of this class : " But though their edu- cation is thus obtained at a less expense, they are not now considered as a menial order ; for sizars, pensioner-schol- ars, and even sometimes fellow-commoners, mix together with the utmost cordiality." SIZE. Food and drink from the buttery, aside from the regu- lar dinner at commons. " A size," says Minsheu, "is a portion of bread or drinke, it is a farthing which schollers in Cambridge have at the buttery ; it is noted with the letter S. as in Oxford with the AND CUSTOMS. 28^1 letter Q. for halfe a farthing ; and whereas they say in Oxford, to battle in the Buttery Booke, i. e. to set downe on their names what they take in bread, drinke, butter, cheese, &c. ; so, in Cambridge, they say, to size^ i. e. to set downe their quantum, i. e. how much they take on their name in the Buttery Booke." In the Poems of the Rev. Dr. Dodd, a size of bread is described as " half a half-penny ' roll.' " Grose, also, in the Provincial Glossary, says " it signifies the half part of a half-penny loaf, and comes from scindo^ I cut." In the Encyclopsedia Britannica is the following explana- tion of this term. " A size of any thing is the smallest quantity of that thing which can be thus bought " [i. e. by students in addition to their commons in the hall] ; " two sizes, or a part of beef, being nearly equal to what a young person will eat of that dish to his dinner, and a size of ale or beer being equal to half an English pint." It would seem, then, that formerly a size was a small platefull of any eat- able ; the word now means any thing had by students at dinner over and above the usual commons. Of its derivation Webster remarks, " Either contracted from assize, or from the Latin scissus, I take it to be from the former, and from the sense of setting, as we apply the word to the assize of bread." This word was introduced into the older American col- leges from Cambridge, England, and was used for many years, as was also the word sizing, with the same meaning. In 1750, the Corporation of Harvard College voted, " that the quantity of commons be, as hath been usual, viz. two sizes of bread in the morning ; one pound of meat at dinner, with sufficient sauce [vegetables], and a half pint of beer ; and at night that a part pie be of the same quantity as usual, and also half a pint of beer ; and that the supper messes be but of four parts, though the dinner messes be of six." — Quincy'^s Hist. Harv. Coll., Vol. II. p. 97. The students of that day, if we may judge from the ac- counts which we have of their poor commons, would have 24* 282 COLLEGE WORDS used far different words in addressing the Faculty, from King Lear, who, speaking to his daughter Regan, says : — 'T is not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to scant my sizes, SIZE. In the University of Cambridge, England, to size is to order any sort of victuals from the kitchens which the students may want in their rooms, or in addition to their commons in the hall, and for which they pay the cooks or butchers at the end of each quarter ; a word corresponding to Battel at Oxford. — Encyc. Brit, In the Gentleman's Magazine, 1795, p. 21, a writer says : *' At dinner, to size is to order for yourself any little luxury that may chance to tempt you in addition to the general fare, for which you are expected to pay the 'cook at the end of the term." This word was formerly used in the older American col- leges with the meaning given above, as will be seen by the following extracts from the laws of Harvard and Yale. " When they come into town after commons, they may be allowed to size a meal at the kitchen." — Laws Harv, Coll., 1798, p. 39. " At the close of each quarter, the Butler shall make up his bill against each student, in which every article sized or taken up by him at the Buttery shall be particularly charged." — XaM?5 Yale Coll., 1811, p. 31. " As a college term," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " it is of very considerable antiquity. In the comedy called ' The Return from Parnassus,' 1606, one of the characters says, ' You that are one of the Devil's Fellow-Commoners ; one that sizeth the Devil's butteries,' &c. Again, in the same : ' Fidlers, I use to size my music, or go on the score for it.' " SIZING. Food or drink ordered from the buttery ; the act of ordering food or drink from the buttery. Dr. Holyoke, who graduated at Harvard College in 1746, says : " The breakfast was two sizings of bread and a cue of AND CUSTOMS. beer." Judge Wingate, who graduated a little later, says : " We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint, and a sizing of bread, which I cannot describe to you. It was quite sufficient for one dinner." — Feirce^s Hist. Harv, TJniv.^ p. 219. From more definite accounts it would seem that a sizing of biscuit was one biscuit, and a sizing of cracker, two crackers. A certain amount of food was allowed to each mess, and if any person wanted more than the allowance, it was the custom to tell the waiter to bring a sizing of what- ever was wished, provided it was obtained from the com- mons kitchen ; for this payment was made at the close of the term. A sizing of cheese was nearly an ounce, and a sizing of cider varied from a half-pint to a pint and a half. The Steward shall, at the close of every quarter, immediately fill up the columns of commons and sizings, and shall deliver the bill, &c. — Laws Harv, ColL^ 1798, p. 58. The Butler shall frequently inspect his book of sizings. — Ibid,, p. 62. Whereas young scholars, to the dishonor of God, hinderance of their studies, and damage of their friends' estate, inconsiderately and intemperately are ready to abuse their liberty of sizing besides their commons ; therefore the Steward shall in no case permit any students whatever, under the degree of Masters of Arts, or Fel- lows, to expend or be provided for themselves or any townsmen any extraordinary commons, unless by the allov^^ance of the President, &c., or in case of sickness. — Orders written 28th March, 1650. Quincy''s Hist, Harv, Univ., Vol. I p. 583. This term, together with the verb and noun size, which had been in use at Harvard and Yale Colleges since their foundation, has of late been Utile heard, and with the extinc- tion of commons has, with the others, fallen wholly, and probably for ever, into disuse. SIZING PARTY. In the University of Cambridge, England, where this term is used, a " sizing party,"^^ says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, " differs from a supper in this; viz. at a sizing party every one of the guests contributes his part, i. e. orders what he pleases, at his own expense, to his 284 COLLEGE WORDS friend's rooms, — ' a part of fowl ' or duck ; a roasted pig- eon; 'a part of apple pie.' A sober beaker of brandy, or rum, or Hollands and water, concludes the entertainment. In our days, a bowl of bishop, or milk punch, with a chant, generally winds up the carousal." SKIN. At Yale College, to obtain a knowledge of a lesson by hearing it read by another ; also, to borrow another's ideas and present them as one's own ; to plagiarize. The tutor employs the crescent when it is evident that the lesson has been shinned^ according to the college vocabulary, in which case he usually puts a minus sign after it, with the mark which he in all probability would have used had not the lesson been shin- ned. — Yale Banger, Nov., 1846. Never skin a lesson which it requires any ability to learn. — Yale Lit, Mag., Vol. XV. p. 81. He has passively admitted what he has skinned from other gram- marians. — Yale Banger, Nov., 1846. Perhaps the youth who so barefacedly skinned the song referred to, fondly fancied, &c — The Tomahawk, Nov., 1849. He uttered that remarkable prophecy which Horace has so boldly skinned and called his own. — Burial of Euclid, Nov., 1850. To skin ahead ; at Hamilton College, to read a lesson over in the class immediately before reciting. SKINNING. Learning a lesson by hearing it read by another ; plagiarizing. Alas for our beloved orations! acquired by skinning, looking on, and ponies. — Yale Banger, Oct., 1848. SKUNK. At Princeton College, to fail to pay a debt ; used actively ; e. g. to skunk a tailor, i. e. not to pay him. SLEEPING OVER. A phrase equivalent to being absent from prayers. You may see some who have just arisen from their beds, where they have enjoyed the luxury of '■^sleeping over.'''' — Harv. Reg,, p. 202. SLUMP. German schlump ; Danish and Swedish slump ^ a hap or chance, accident, that is, a fall. At Harvard College, a poor recitation. AND CUSTOMS. 285 SLUMP. At Harvard College, to recite badly*; to make a poor recitation. In fact, he 'd rather dead than dig ; he 'd rather slump than squirt. Poem before the Y, H. of Harv. Coll, 1849. Slumping is his usual custom, Deading is his road to fame. — MS. Poem, The usual signification of this word is given by Webster, as follows : "To fail or sink suddenly into water or mud, when walking on a hard surface, as on ice or frozen ground, not strong enough to bear the person " ; to which he adds : " This legitimate word is in common and respectable use in New England, and its signification is so appropriate that no other word will supply its place." From this meaning, the transfer is, by analogy, very easy and natural, and the application very correct, to a poor reci- tation. SMASH. At the Wesley an University, a total failure in re- citing is called a smash, SMILE. A small quantity of any spirituous liquor, or enough to give one a pleasant feeling. Hast ta'en a * smile ' at Brigham's. Poem before the ladma, 1850, p. 7. SMOKE. In some colleges, one of the means made use of by the Sophomores to trouble the Freshmen is, to blow smoke into their rooms until they are compelled to leave, or, in other words, until they are smoked out. Or when, in conclave met, the unpitying wights Smoke the young trembler into '* College rights " : O, spare my tender youth ! he, suppliant, cries, In vain, in vain ; redoubled clouds arise. While the big tears adown his visage roll, Caused by the smoke, and sorrow of his soul. College Life, by J. C. Richmond, p. 4. They would lock me in if I left my key outside, smoke me out^ duck me, &c. — Sketches of Williams College, p. 74. I would not have you sacrifice all these advantages for the sake of smoking future Freshmen. — Burial of Euclid, 1850, p. 10. 286 COLLEGE WORDS A correspondent from the University of Vermont gives the following account of a practical joke, which we do not suppose is very often played in all its parts. " They ' train ' Freshmen in various ways ; the most classic is to take a pumpkin, cut a piece from the top, clean it, put in two pounds of ' fine cut,' put it on the Freshman's table, and then, all standing round with long pipe-stems, blow into it the fire placed in the tohac^ and so fill the room with smoke, then put the Freshman to bed, with the pumpkin for a night- cap." SMOUGE. At Hamilton College, to obtain without leave. SNOB. In the English universities, a townsman, as opposed to a gownsman. — Webster, They charged the Snobs against their will, And shouted clear and lustily. Gradus ad Cantab., p. 69. In some American colleges, a townsman as opposed to a student. 2. A mean or vulgar person ; particularly, one who apes gentility. — Halliwell. Used both in England and the United States, " and re- cently," says Webster, " introduced into books as a term of derision." SNOBBESS. In the English universities, a female snob. EiFeminacies like these, induced, no doubt, by the flattering ad- miration of the fair snobbesses. — Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 116. SNOBBISH. Belonging to or resembling a snob. SNOBBY. Low ; vulgar ; resembling or pertaining to a snob. SOPH. In the University of Cambridge, England, an abbre- viation of Sophister. — Webster. On this word, Crabb, in his Technological Dictionary^ says : " A certain distinction or title which undergraduates in the University at Oxford assume, previous to their exami- nation for a degree. It took its rise in the exercises which students formerly had to go through, but which are now out of use." AND CUSTOMS. 287 Three College Sophs^ and three pert Templars came, The same their talents, and their tastes the same. Pope's Dunciad, B. TI. v. 389, 390. 2. In the American colleges, an abbreviation of Sophomore. Sophs wha ha' in Commons fed ! Sop?is wha ha' in Commons bled ! Sophs wha ne'er from Commons fled ! Puddings, steaks, or wines ! Rebelliad, p. 52. The Sophs did nothing all the first fortnight, but torment the Fresh, as they call us. — Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 76. The Sophs were victorious at every point. — Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846. My Chum, a Soph, says he committed himself too soon. — The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 118. SOPHIST. A name given to the undergraduates at Cam- bridge, England. — CrahFs Tech. Diet, SOPHISTER. Greek, o-o(/)i(rrr;s. In the University of Cam- bridge, England, the title of students who are advanced be- yond the first year of their residence. The entire course at the University consists of three years and one term, during which the students have the titles of First- Year Men, or Freshmen ; Second-Year Men, or Junior Sophs or Soph- isters ; Third-Year Men, or Senior Sophs or Sophisters ; and, in the last term, Questionists, with reference to the approaching examination. In the older American colleges, the junior and senior classes were originally called Junior Sophisters and Senior Sophisters. The term is also used at Oxford and Dublin. — Webster. And in case any of the Sophisters fail in the premises required at their hands, &c. — Quincyh Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. I. p. 518. SOPHOMORE. One belonging to the second of the four classes in an American college. Professor Goodrich, in his unabridged edition of Dr. Web- ster's Dictionary, gives the following interesting account of this word. " This word has generally been considered as an ' American barbarism,' but was probably introduced into our country, at a very early period, from the University of 288 COLLEGE WORDS Cambridge, England. Among the cant terms at that Uni- versily, as given in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, we find Soph'Mor as 'the next distinctive appellation to Freshman.' It is added, that 'a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine thinks mor an abbreviation of the Greek fxcopla^ introduced at a time when the Encomium Morice^ the Praise of Folly, by Erasmus, was so generally used.' The ordinary derivation of the word, from (To(l)6i and ^wpoy, would seem, therefore, to be incorrect. The younger Sophs at Cambridge appear, formerly, to have received the adjunct mor {ficupos) to their names, either as one which they courted for the reason men- tioned above, or as one given them in sport, for the supposed exhibition of inflated feeling in entering on their new honors. The term, thus applied, seems to have passed, at a very early period, from Cambridge in England to Cambridge in Amer- ica, as * the next distinctive appellation to Freshman,' and thus to have been attached to the second of the four classes in our American colleges ; while it has now almost ceased to be known, even as a cant word, at the parent institu- tion in England whence it came. This derivation of the word is rendered more probable by the fact, that the early spelling was, to a great extent at least, Sophimore, as ap- pears from the manuscripts of President Stiles of Yale Col- lege, and the records of Harvard College down to the period of the American Revolution. This would be perfectly natu- ral if Soph or Sophister was considered as the basis of the word, but can hardly be explained if the ordinary derivation had then been regarded as the true one." Some further remarks on this word may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, above referred to. Vol. LXV. 1795, p. 818. SOPHOMORE COMMENCEMENT. At Princeton College, it has long been the custom for the Sophomore Class, near the time of the Commencement at the close of the Senior year, to hold a Commencement in imitation of it, at which burlesque and other exercises, appropriate to the occasion, are performed. The speakers chosen are a Salutatorian, a Poet, an Historian, who reads an account of the doings of AND CUSTOMS. 28fl the Class up to that period, a Valedictorian, &c., &c. A band of music is always in attendance. After the addresses, the Class partake of a supper, which is usually prolonged to a very late hour. In imitation of the Sophomore Commence- ment, Burlesque Bills ^ as they are called, are prepared and published by the Juniors, in which, in a long and formal pro- gramme, such subjects and speeches are attributed to the members of the Sophomore Class as are calculated to expose their weak points. SOPHOMOmC, ) „ . . SOPHOMORICAL i rertammg to or like a Sophomore. Better to face the prowling panther's path, Than meet the storm of Sophomoric wrath. Harvardiana, Vol. IV. p. 22. We trust he will add by his example no significancy to that pithy word, " Sophomoric.''^ — Sketches of Williams Coll., p. 63. Another meaning, derived it would appear from the char- acteristics of the Sophomore, yet not very creditable to him, is homhastic^ inflated in style or manner. — /. C. Calhoun. SPLURGE. In many colleges, when one is either dashy, or dressed more than ordinarily, he is said to cut a splurge, A showy recitation is often called by the same name. In his Dictionary of Americanisms, Mr. Bartlett defines it, " a great effort ; a demonstration," which is the signification in which this word is generally used. SPOON. In the University of Cambridge, England, the last of each class of the honors is humorously denominated The Spoon. Thus, the last Wrangler is called the Golden Spoon ; the last Senior Optime, the Silver Spoon ; and the last Jun- ior Optime, the Wooden Spoon. The Wooden Spoon, however, is, par excellence^ " The Spoon." — Gradus ad Cantab. See Wooden Spoon. SPOON, J A man who has been drinking till he be- SPOONY, V comes disgusting by his very ridiculous be. SPOONEY. ) havior, is said to be spoony drunk; and hence 25 290 COLLEGE WORDS it is usual to call a very prating, shallow fellow, a rank spoon. — Grose. Mr. Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, says : — " We use the word only in the latter sense. The Hon. Mr. Preston, in his remarks on the Mexican war, thus quotes from Tom Crib's remonstrance against the meanness of a transaction, similar to our cries for more vigorous blows on Mexico when she is prostrate : ** Look down upon Ben, — see him, dunghill all o'er, Insult the fallen foe that can harm him no more. Out, cowardly spooney I Again and again, By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, Ben. " Ay, you will see all the spooneys that ran, like so many dtmghill champions, from 54 40, stand by the President for the vigorous prosecution of the war upon the body of a prostrate foe. — N. Y. Tribune, lS4t7.'' Now that year it so happened that the spoon was no spooney. — Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 218. Not a few of this party were deluded into a belief, that all studious and quiet men were slow, all men of proper self-respect exclusives, and all men of courtesy and good-breeding spoonies. — Collegian^ s Guide, p. 118. Suppose that rustication was the fate of a few others of our ac- quaintance, whom you cannot call slow, or spoonies either, would it be deemed no disgrace by them? — Ibid., p. 196. When spoonys on two knees implore the aid of sorcery, To suit their wicked purposes they quickly put the laws awry. Rejected Addresses, Am. ed., p. 154. They belong to the class of elderly " spoons,"*^ with some few ex- ceptions, and are nettled that the world should not go at their rate of progression. — Boston Daily Times, May 8, 1851. SPOONY. ) Like a spoon ; possessing the qualities of a SPOONEY. \ silly or stupid fellow. I shall escape from this beautiful critter, for I 'm gettin' spooney, and shall talk silly presently. — Sam Slick. Both the adjective and the noun spooney are in constant and frequent use at some of the American colleges, and are generally applied to one who is disliked either for his bad qualities or for his ill -breeding, usually accompanied with the idea of weakness. AND CUSTOMS. 291 He sprees, is caught, rusticates, returns next year, mingles with feminines, and is consequently degraded into the spooney Junior. — Yale Lit. Mag,, Vol. XV. p. 208. A ** bowl " was the happy conveyance. Perhaps this was chosen because the voyagers were spooney. — Yale Banger, Nov., 1849. SPOOPS. ) At Harvard College, a weak, silly fellow, or SPOOPSY. ) one who is disliked on account of his foolish ac- tions, is called a spoops^ or spdopsy. The meaning is nearly the same as that of spoony. SPOOPSY. Foolish ; silly. Applied either to a person or thing. SPORT. To exhibit or bring out in public ; as, to sport a new equipage. — Grose. This word was in great vogue in England in the year 1783 and 1784; but is now sacred to men of fashion^ both in England and America. With regard to the word sport, they [the Cantabrigians] sported knowing, and they sported ignorant, — they sported an ^Egrotat, and they sported a new coat, — they sported an Exeat, they sported a Dormiat," &c. — Gent. Mag., 1794, p. 1085. To sport oak or a door. See Oak. SPREAD. A feast of a more humble description than a Gaudy. Used at Cambridge, England. This puts him in high spirits again , and he gives a large spread, and gets drunk on the strength of it. — Gradus ad Cantab. SPRUNG. The positive, of which tight is the comparative, and drunk the superlative. " One swallow makes not spring," the poet sung, But many swallows make the student sprung. MS. Poem, See Tight. SPY. In some of the American colleges, it is a prevailing opinion among the students, that certain members of the dif- ferent classes are encouraged by the Faculty to report what they have seen or ascertained in the conduct of their class- mates, contrary to the laws of the college. jMany are stigma- tized as spies very unjustly, and seldom with any sufficient reason. 292 COLLEGE WORDS SQUIRT. At Harvard College, a showy recitation is denom- inated a squirt ; the ease and quickness with which the words flow from the mouth being analogous to the ease and quick- ness which attend the sudden ejection of a stream of water from a pipe. Such a recitation being generally perfect, the word squirt is very often used to convey that idea. Perhaps there is not, in the whole vocabulary of college cant terms, one more expressive than this, or that so easily conveys its meaning merely by its sound. It is mostly used colloquially. 2. A foppish young fellow ; a whipper-snapper. — Bart- lett. If they won't keep company with squirts and dandies, who 's go- ing to make a monkey of himself? — Maj. Joneses Courtship, p. 160. SQUIRT. To make a showy recitation. He 'd rather slump than squirt. Poem before Y". ^., p. 9. Webster has this word with the meaning, " to throw out words ; to let fly," and marks it as out of use. SQUIRTINESS. The quality of being showy. SQUIRTISH. Showy; dandified. It 's my opinion that these slicked up squirtish kind a fellars ain't particular hard baked, and they always goes in for aristocracy no- tions. — Robb, Squatter Life, p. 73. SQUIRTY. Showy ; fond of display ; gaudy. Applied to an oration which is full of bombast and gran- diloquence ; to a foppish fellow ; to an apartment gayly adorned, &c. And should they '* scrape " in prayers, because they are long And rather ** squirty " at times. Childe Harvard, p. 58. STANDING. Academical age, or rank. Of what standing are you ? I am a Senior Soph. — Gradus ad Cantab. Her mother told me all about your love, And asked me of your prospects and your standing. Collegian, 1830, p. 267. AND CUSTOMS. 293 To stand for an honor ; i. e. to offer one's self as a can- didate for an honor. STx\R. In triennial catalogues a star designates those who have died. This sign was first used with this signification by Mather, in his Magnalia, in a list prepared by him of the graduates of Harvard College, with a fanciful allusion, it is supposed, to the abode of those thus marked. Our tale shall be told by a silent star, On the page of some future Triennial. Poem before Class of I8i9f Harv, Coll., p. 4. STAR. To mark a star opposite the name of a person, signi- fying that he is dead. Six of the sixteen Presidents of our University have been in- augurated in this place ; and the oldest living graduate, the Hon. Paine Wingate of Stratham, New Hampshire, who stands on the catalogue a lonely survivor amidst the starred names of the dead, took, his degree within these walls. — A Sermon on leaving the old Meeting-house in Cambridge, by Rev. William Newell, Dec. 1, 1833, p. 22. S. T. B. Sanctce Theologia Baccalaureus, Bachelor in The- ology. See B. D: STEWARD. In colleges, an officer who provides food for the students, and superintends the kitchen. — Webster, In American colleges, the labors of the steward are at present more extended, and not so servile, as set forth in the above definition. To him is usually assigned the duty of making out the term-bills and receiving the money thereon ; of superintending the college edifices with respect to repairs, &c. ; of engaging proper servants in the employ of the col- lege ; and of performing such other services as are declared by the faculty of the college to be within his province. S. T. P. SanctcB Theologies Doctor. Doctor in Theology. Also called Professor of Theology. See D. D. STUCK. In college phrase, to get stuck is to be unable to pro- 25* 294 COLLEGE WORDS ceed, either in a recitation, declamation, or any other exer- cise. An instructor is said to stick a student, when he asks a question which the student is unable to answer. STUDENT. A person engaged in study ; one who is devoted to learning, either in a seminary or in private ; a scholar ; as, the students of an academy, of a college or university ; a medical student ; a law student, 2. A man devoted to books ; a bookish man ; as, a hard student ; a close student, — Welster. STUDY. A building or an apartment devoted to study or to literary employment. — Webster, In some of the older American colleges, it was formerly the custom to partition off, in each chamber, two small rooms, where the occupants, who were always two in number, could carry on their literary pursuits. These rooms were called, from this circumstance, studies. Speaking of the first college edifice which was erected at New Haven, Mr. Clap, in his History of Yale College, says : " It made a handsome appearance, and contained near fifty studies in convenient chambers " ; and again he speaks of Connecticut Hall as containing thirty-two chambers, and sixty-four studies. In the oldest buildings, some of these studies remain at the present day. The study rents, until December last, were discontinued with Mr. Dunster. — Quincy^s Hist. Harv, Univ., Vol. I. p. 463. Every Graduate and Undergraduate shall find his proportion of furniture, &c., during the whole time of his having a 5iMfi(y assigned him. — Laws Harv. Coll., 1798, p. 35. To him that occupies my study, 1 give, &c. — Will of Charles Prentiss, STUMP. At Princeton College, to fail in reciting; to say " not prepared," when called on to recite. A stump^ a bad recitation ; used in the phrase, " to make a stump.'*'' SUB-FRESH. A person previous to entering the Freshman class is called a sub-fresh, or one below a Freshman. AND CUSTOMS. 295 Praying his guardian powers To assist a poor ^^ Sub-Fresh " at the dread examination. Poem before the ladma Soc. of Harv, CoIL, p. 14, 1850. Our ^^Sub-Fresh^^ has that feeling. Ibid., p. 16. Sometimes written Suh, Information wanted of the ** Sub " who did n't think it an honor to be electioneered. — N. B., Yale ColLy June 14, 1851. See Pene. SUB-SIZAR; In the University of Cambridge, England, for- merly an order of students lower than the sizars. Masters of all sorts, and all ages, Keepers, sudcizers, lackeys, pages. Poems of Bp. Corbet, p. 22. There he sits and sees How lackeys and subsizers press And scramble for degrees. Ibid., p. 38. See under Sizar. SUPPLICAT. Latin ; literally, he supplicates. In the Eng- lish universities, a petition ; particularly a written applica- tion with a certificate that the requisite conditions have been complied with. — Webster. A Supplicate says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, is " an entreaty to be admitted to the degree of A. B. ; containing a certificate that the Questionist has kept his full number of terms, or explaining any deficiency. This document is pre- sented to the caput by the father of his college." SUSPEND. In colleges, to separate a student from his class, and place him under private instruction. And those whose crimes are very great, Let us suspend or rusticate. — Rebelliad, p. 24. SUSPENSION. In universities and colleges, the punishment of a student for some offence, usually negligence, by separ- ating him from his class, and compelling him to pursue those branches of study in which he is deficient under pri- vate instruction, provided for the purpose. SUSPENSION-PAPER. The paper in which the act of sus- pension from college is declared. 296 COLLEGE WORDS Come, take these three suspension-papers ; They '11 teach you how to cut such capers. RebeUiad, p. 32. SUSPENSION TO THE ROOM. In Princeton College, one of the punishments for certain offences subjects a stu- dent to confinement to his chamber and exclusion from his class, and requires him to recite to a teacher privately for a certain time. This is technically called suspension to the room. SWEEP, ) The name given at Yale and other colleges SWEEPER. \ to the person whose occupation is to sweep the students' rooms, make their beds, &c. Then how welcome the entrance of the sweep^ and how cutely we fling jokes at each other through the dust I — Yale Lit. Mag. , Vol. XIV. p. 223. \ Knocking down the sweep, in clearing the stairs, we described a circle to our room. — Tlte Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846. A Freshman by the faithful sweep Was found half buried in soft sleep. Ibid., Nov. 10, 1846. In the Yale Literary Magazine, Vol. III. p. 144, is " A tribute to certain Members of the Faculty, whose names are omitted in the Catalogue," in which appropriate praise is awarded to these useful servants. The Steward .... engages sweepers for the College. — Laws Harv. Coll., 1816, p. 48. SWELL BLOCK. In the University of Virginia, a soubriquet applied to dandies and vain pretenders. SWING. At several American colleges, the word swing is used for coming out with a secret society badge ; 1st, of the society, to swing out the new men ; and, 2d, of the men, intransitively, to swings i. e. to appear with the badge of a secret society. Generally, ^o swing out signifies to appear in something new. SYNDIC. Latin, syndicus ; Greek, avvdiKos ; (tvv, with, and bUr}, justice. An officer of government, invested with different powers AND CUSTOMS. 297 in different countries. Almost all the connpanies in Paris, the university, &c., have their syndics. The University of Cannbridge has its syndics^ v^ho are chosen from the Senate to transact special business, as the regulation of fees, forming of laws, inspecting the library, buildings, printing, &c. — Wtlster. Cam. Col. ^-ss:=Ef~===^::>^ Library. T. ^'i^^^or TADS. At Centre College, Ky., there is " a society," says a correspondent, " composed of the very best fellows of the I College, calling themselves Tads^ who are generally associ- ated together, for the object of electing, by the additional votes of their members, any of their friends who are brought forward as candidates for any honor or appointment in the literary societies to which they belong." TAKE UP ONE'S CONNECTIONS. In students' phrase, to leave college. Used in American institutions. TARDY. In colleges, late in attendance on a public exercise. Welster. TAVERN. At Harvard College, the rooms No. 24, Massa- chusetts Hall, and No. 8, Hollis Hall, were occupied from the year 1789 to 1793 by Mr. Charles Angier. His table was always supplied with wine, brandy, crackers, etc., of which his friends were at liberty to partake at any time. From this circumstance his rooms were called the Tavern for nearly twenty years after his graduation. In connection with this incident, it may not be uninterest- ing to state that the cellars of the two buildings above men- tioned were divided each into thirty-two compartments, cor- responding with the number of rooms. In these the students and tutors stored their liquors, sometimes in no inconsider- able quantities. Frequent entries are met with in the 298 COLLEGE WORDS records of the Faculty, in which the students are charged with pilfering wine, brandy, or eatables from the tutors' bins, TAXOR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng. an officer appointed to regulate the assize of bread, the true guage of weights, etc. — Cam, Cal. TEAR. At Princeton College, a perfect tear is a very extra recitation, superior to a rowL TEMPLE. At Bowdoin College, a privy is thus designated. TEN-STRIKE. At Hamilton, a perfect recitation, ten being the mark given for a perfect recitation. TEN-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., these are allowed to take the degree of Bachelor in Divinity without having been B. A. or M. A., by the statute of 9th Queen Elizabeth, which permits persons, who are admitted at any college when twenty-four years of age and upwards, to take the degree of B. D. after their names have remained on the hoards ten years or more. After the first eight years, they must reside in the University the greater part of three several terms, and perform the exercises which are required by the statutes. — Cam. Cal, TERM. In universities and colleges, the time during which instruction is regularly given to students, who are obliged by the statutes and laws of the institution to attend to the recitations, lectures, and other exercises. — Webster, TERR^ FILIUS. Latin ; son of earth. Formerly, one appointed to write a satirical Latin poem at the public acts in the University of Oxford ; not unlike the prevaricator at Cambridge, Eng. — Webster, Full accounts of the compositions written on these occasions may be found in a work in two volumes, entitled " Terrae- Filius ; or the Secret History of the University of Oxford," printed in the year 1726. TESTAMUR. Latin ; literally, we testify. In the English universities, a certificate of proficiency, without which a person is not able to take his degree. So called from the first word in the formula. AND CUSTOMS. 299 There is not one out of twenty of my pupils who can look for- ward with unmixed pleasure to a testamur. — Collegian's Guide, p. 254. Every testamur must be signed by three out of the four exam- iners, at least. — Ibid., p. 282. THEATRE. At Oxford, a building in which are held the annual commemoration of benefactors, the recitation of prize compositions, and the occasional ceremony of confer- ring degrees on distinguished personages. — Oxford Guide, THEME. A short dissertation composed by a student. It is the practice at Cambridge [Mass.] for the Professor of Rhet- oric and the English language, commencing in the first or second quarter of the student's Sophomore year, to give the class a text ; generally some brief moral quotation from some of the ancient or modern poets, from which the students write a short essay, usually denominated a theme. — Works of R. T. Paine, p. xxi. Far be it from me to enter into competition with students who have been practising the sublime art of theme and forensic writing for two years. — • Harvardiana, Vol, III. p. 316. But on the sleepy day of them£s, May doze away a dozen reams. Ibid.,^. 283. Nimrod holds his ** first theme " in one hand and is leaning his head on the other. — Ibid-, p. 253. THEME-BEARER. At Harvard College, until within a few years, a student was chosen once in a term by his class- mates to perform the duties of theme-bearer. He received the subjects for themes and forensics from the Professors of Rhetoric and of Moral Philosophy, and posted them up in convenient places, usually in the entries of the buildings ' and on the bulletin-boards. He also distributed the cor- rected themes, at first giving them to the students after evening prayers, and when this had been forbidden by the President, carrying them to their rooms. For these services he received seventy-five cents per term from each member of the class. THESIS. A position or proposition which a person advances and offers to maintain, or which is actually maintained by 300 COLLEGE WORDS argument ; a theme ; a subject ; particularly, a subject or proposition for a school or university exercise, or the ex- ercise itself. — Webster. In the older American colleges, the theses held a promi- nent place in the exercises of Commencement. At Harvard College the earliest theses extant bear the date of the year 1687. They were Theses Technological, Logical, Gram- matical, Rhetorical, Mathematical, and Physical. The last theses were presented in the year 1820. The earliest theses extant belonging to Yale College are of 1714, and the last were printed in 1797. THESES-COLLECTOR. One who collects or prepares theses. The following extract from the laws of Harvard College will explain further what is meant by this term. "The President, Professors, and Tutors, annually, some time in the third term, shall select from the Junior Class a num- ber of Theses- Collectors, to prepare Theses for the next year ; from which selection, they shall appoint so many divisions as shall be equal to the number of branches they may assign. And each one shall, in the particular branch assigned him, collect so many theses as the government may judge expedient; and all the theses, thus collected, shall be delivered to the President, by the Saturday immedi- ately succeeding the end of the Spring vacation, in the Senior year, at farthest, from which the President, Professors, and Tutors shall select such as they shall judge proper to be published. But if the theses delivered to the President, in any particular branch, should not afford a sufficient number suitable for publication, a farther number shall be required. The name of the student who collected any set or number of theses shall be annexed to the theses collected by him, in every publication. Should any one neglect to collect the theses required of him, he shall be liable to lose his degree." 1814, p. 35. The Theses-Collectors were formerly chosen by the class, as the following extract from a MS. Journal will show. " March 27th, 1792. My Class assembled in the chapel to choose theses-collectors, a valedictory orator, and poet. Jack- AND CUSTOMS. 301 son was chosen to deliver the Latin oration, and Cutler to deliver the poem. Ellis was almost unanimously chosen a collector of the grammatical theses. Prince was chosen metaphysical theses collector, with considerable opposition. Lowell was chosen mathematical theses collector, though not unanimously. Chamberlain was chosen physical theses col- lector." THIRDING. In England, "a custom practised at the uni- versities, where two thirds of the original price is allowed by upholsterers to the students for household goods returned them within the year." — Grose^s Did. THIRD-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng- land, the title of Third-Year Men, or Senior Sophs orSophis- ters, is given to students during the third year of their resi- dence at the University. THUNDERING BOLUS. See Intonitans Bolus. TICK. A recitation made by one who does not know of what he is talking. Ticks ^ screws, and deads were all put under contribution. — A Tour through College, p. 25. Boston, 1832. TICKER. One who recites without knowing what he is talk- ing about ; one entirely independent of any book-knowledge. If any *' Ticker " dare to look A stealthy moment on his book. Harvardianttf Vol. III. p. 123, TICKING. The act of reciting without knowing any thing about the lesson. And what with ticking, screwing, and deading, am candidate for a piece of parchment to-morrow. — Harv. Reg., p. 194. TIGHT. A common slang term among students; the com- parative, of which drunk is the superlative. Some twenty of as jolly chaps as e'er got jolly tight. Poem before Y. H., 1849. Hast spent the livelong night In smoking Esculapios, — in getting jolly tight 1 Poem before ladma, 1850. 26 302 COLLEGE WORDS While fathers are bursting with rage and spite, And old ladies vow that the students are tight. Yale Gallinippery Nov., 1848. Speaking of the word " drunk," the Burlington Sentinel remarks : — " The last synonyme that we have observed is ' iight^'* a term, it strikes us, rather inappropriate, since a ' tight' man, in the cant use of the word, is almost always a ' loose character.' We give a list of a few of the various words and phrases which have been in use, at one time or another, to signify some stage of inebriation : Over the bay, half seas over, hot, high, corned, cut, cocked, shaved, dis- guised, jammed, damaged, sleepy, tired, discouraged, snuffy, whipped, how come ye so, breezy, smoked, top heavy, fud- dled, groggy, tipsy, smashed, swipy, slewed, cronk, salted down, how fare ye, on the lee lurch, all sails set, three sheets in the wind, well under w^ay, battered, blowing, snub- bed, sawed, boozy, bruised, screwed, soaked, comfortable, stimulated, jug-steamed, tangle-legged, fogmatic, blue-eyed, a passenger in the Cape Ann stage, striped, faint, shot in the neck, bamboozled, weak-jointed, got a brick in his hat, got a turkey on his back." See Sprung. 2. At Williams College, this word is sometimes used as an exclamation ; e. g. " O, tight ! " TIGHT FIT. At the University of Vermont, a good joke is denominated by the students a tight Jit^ and the jokee is said to be " hard up." TILE. A hat. Evidently suggested by the meaning of the word, a covering for the roof of buildings. Then, taking it from off his head, began to brush his " ^zVe." Poem before the ladma, 1850. TOADY. A fawning, obsequious parasite ; a toad-eater. In college cant, one who seeks or gains favor with an instructor or popularity with his classmates by mean and sycophantic actions. TOADY. To flatter any one for gain. — Halliwell AND CUSTOMS. TRANSMITTENDUM, ph Transmittenda or Transmit- TENDUMs. Any thing transnnitted, or handed down from one to another. Students, on withdrawing from college, often leave in the room which they last occupied, pictures, looking-glasses, chairs, &c., there to remain, and to be handed down to the latest posterity. Articles thus left are called iransmitlenda. The Great Mathematical Slate was a transmittendum to the best mathematical scholar in each class. — MS. note in Cat, Med, Fac, Soc, 1833, p. 16. TRIENNIAL, or Triennial Catalogue. In American col- leges, a catalogue issued once in three years. This cata- logue contains the names of the officers and students, ar- ranged according to the years in which they were connected with the college, an account of the high public offices which they have filled, degrees which they have received, time of death, &c. Our tale shall be told by a silent star, On the page of some future Triennial. Class Poem, Harv. Coll., 1849, p. 4. TRIMESTER. Latin trimestris ; tres^ three, and mensis^ month. In the German universities, a term or period of three months. — Webster. TRIPOS, pi. Triposes. A tripos paper. 2. One who prepares a tripos paper. — Webster. TRIPOS PAPER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng- land, a printed list of the successful candidates for mathe- matical honors, accompanied by a piece in Latin verse. There are two of these, designed to commemorate the two Tripos days. The first contains the names of the wranglers and senior optimes, and the second the names of the junior optimes. The word tripos is supposed to refer to the three- legged stool formerly used at the examinations for these honors, though some derive it from the three brackets for- merly printed on the back of the paper. Classical tripos examination ; the final university exami- nation for classical honors, optional to all who have taken 304 COLLEGE WORDS the mathematical honors. — C. A, Bristed^ in Wehster^s Diet. TRUSTEE. A person to whom property is legally com- mitted in trusty to be applied either for the benefit of speci- fied individuals, or for public uses. — Webster, In many American colleges the general government is vested in a board of trustees^ appointed differently in differ- ent colleges. See Corporation and Overseer. TUFT-HUNTER. A cant term, in the English universities, for a hanger-on to noblemen and persons of quality. So called from the tuft in the cap of the latter. — HalliwelL TUITION. In universities, colleges, schools, &c., the money paid for instruction. In American colleges, the tuition is from thirty to seventy dollars a year. TUTE. Abbreviation for Tutor. TUTOR. Latin ; from tueor, to defend ; French, tuteur. In Engli.sh universities and colleges, an officer or member of some hall, who has the charge of hearing the lessons of the students, and otherwise giving them instruction in the sciences and various branches of learning. In the American colleges, tutors are graduates selected by the trustees, for the instruction of undergraduates of the first three years. They are usually officers of the institu- tion, who have a share, with the president and professors, in the government of the students. — Webster. TUTORIAL. Belonging to or exercised by a tutor or in- structor. Even while he is engaged in his '* tutoriaV duties, &c. — Am. Lit. Mag,, Vol. IV. p. 409. TUTORIC. Pertaining to a tutor. A collection of two was not then considered a sure prognostic of rebellion, and spied out vigilantly by iutoric eyes. — Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 314. TUTORING FRESHMEN. Of the various means used by Sophomores to trouble Freshmen, that of tutoring them, as AND CUSTOMS. ' 305 described in the following extract from the Sketches of Yale College, is not at all peculiar to that institution, except in so far as the name is concerned. " The ancient customs of subordination among the classes, though long since abrogated, still preserve a part of their power over the students, not only of this, but of almost every similar institution. The recently exalted Sophomore, the dignified Junior, and the venerable Senior, look back with equal humor at the 'greenness' of their first year. The former of these classes, however, is chiefly notorious in the annals of Freshman capers. To them is allotted the duty of fumigating the room of the new-comer, and preparing him by a due induction into the mysteries of Yale for the duties of his new situation. Of these performances, the most sys- tematic is commonly styled Tutoring^ from the character as- sumed by the officiating Sophomore. Seated solemnly in his chair of state, arrayed in a pompous gown, with specs and powdered hair, he waits the approach of the awe-struck subject, who has been duly warned to attend his pleasure, and fitly instructed to make a low reverence and stand speechless until addressed by his illustrious superior. A be- coming impression has also been conveyed of the dignity, talents, and profound learning and influence into the congre- gated presence of which he is summoned. Every thing, in short, which can increase his sufficiently reverent emotions, or produce a readier or more humble obedience, is carefully set forth, till he is prepared to approach the door with no little degree of that terror with which the superstitious in- quirer enters the mystic circle of the magician. A shaded light gleams dimly out into the room, and pours its fuller radiance upon a ponderous volume of Hebrew ; a huge pile of folios rests on the table, and the eye of the fearful Fresh- man half ventures to discover that they are tomes of the dead languages. " But first he has, in obedience to his careful monitor, bowed lowly before the dignified presence ; and, hardly rais- ing his eyes, he stands abashed at his awful situation, waiting the supreme pleasure of the supposed officer. A benignant 26 ♦ 306 COLLEGE WORDS smile lights up the tutor's grave countenance ; he enters strangely enough into familiar talk with the recently admitted collegiate ; in pathetic terms he describes the temptations of this great city, the thousand dangers to which he will be ex- posed, the vortex of ruin into which, if he walks unwarily, he will be surely plunged. He fires the youthful ambi- tion with glowing descriptions of the honors that await the successful, and opens to his eager view the dazzling prospect of college fame. Nor does he fail to please the youthful as- pirant with assurances of the kindly notice of the Faculty ; he informs him of the satisfactory examination he has passed, and the gratification of the President at his uncommon pro- ficiency ; and having thus filled the buoyant imagination of his dupe with the most glowing college air-castles, dismisses him from his august presence, after having given him espe- cial permission to call on any important occasion hereafter." — pp. 159 - 162. TUTORSHIP. The office of a tutor. — Hooker, In the following passage, this word is used as a titulary compellation, like the word lordship. One morning, as the story goes, Before his tutorship arose. — RebelUad, p. 73. TUTORS' PASTURE. In 1645, John Bulkley, by a deed, gave to Mr. Dunster, the President of Harvard College, two acres of land in Cambridge, during his life. The deed then proceeds : " If at any time he shall leave the Presidency, or shall decease, I then desire the College to appropriate the same to itself for ever, as a small gift from an alumnus, bearing towards it the greatest good-will." " After Presi- dent Dunster's resignation," says Quincy, " the Corporation gave the income of Bulkley's donation to the tutors, who re- ceived it for many years, and hence the inclosure obtained the name of 'Tutors' Pasture,'* or 'Fellows' Orchard,''" In the Donation Book of the College, the deed is introduced as " Extractum Doni Pomarii Sociorum per Johannem Bulk- leium." — Quincy's Hist, Harv, TJniv.^ Vol. I. pp. 269, 270. AND CUSTOMS. 307 u. UGLY KNIFE. See Jack-knife. UNDERGRADUATE. A student, or member of a university or college, who has not taken his first degree. — Webster. UNDERGRADUATE. Noting or pertaining to a student of a college who has not taken his first degree. The undergraduate students shall be divided into four distinct classes. — Laws Yale Coll., 1837, p. 11. With these the undergraduate course is not intended to interfere. — Yale Coll. Cat., 1850-51, p. 33. UNDERGRADUATESHIP. The state of being an under- graduate. — Life of Foley, UNIVERSITY. An assemblage of colleges established in any place, with professors for instructing students in the sciences and other branches of learning, and where degrees are conferred. A university is properly a universal school, in which are taught all branches of learning, or the four faculties of theology, medicine, law, and the sciences and arts. — Cyclopcedia. UNIVERSITY. At Union College, a name given to a uni- versity student. The regulation in reference to this class is as follows : — " Students, not regular members of college, are allowed, as university students, to prosecute any branches for which they are qualified, provided they attend three recitations daily, and conform in all other respects to the laws of College. On leaving College, they receive certificates of character and scholarship." — Union Coll. Cat.^ 1850. The eyes of several Freshmen and Universities shone with a watery lustre. — The Parthenon^ Yol. L p. 20. 308 COLLEGE WORDS VACATION. The intermission of the regular studies and ex- ercises of a college or other seminary, when the students have a recess. — Webster. VALEDICTION. A farewell ; a bidding farewell. Used sometimes with the meaning of valedictory or valedictory oration. Two publick Orations, by the Candidates : the one to give a specimen of their Knowledge, &c., and the other to give a grateful and pathetick Valediction to all the Officers and Members of the So- ciety. — Clap's Hist. Yale Coll., p. 87. VALEDICTORIAN. The student of a college who pro- nounces the valedictory oration at the annual Commence- ment. — Webster. VALEDICTORY. In American colleges, a farewell oration or address spoken at Commencement, by a member of the class which receive the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and take their leave of college and of each other. VARMINT. At Cambridge, England, and also among the whip gentry, this word signifies natty, spruce, dashing ; e. g. he is quite varmint ; he sports a varmint hat, coat, &c. A varmint man spurns a scholarship, would consider it a degra- dation to be a fellow. — Gradus ad Cantab., p. 122. The handsome man, my friend and pupil, was naturally enough a bit of a swell, or varmint man. — Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 118. VICE-CHANCELLOR. An officer in a university, in Eng- land, a distinguished member, who is annually elected to manage the affairs in the absence of the Chancellor. He must be the head of a college, and during his continuance in office, he acts as a magistrate for the university, town, and county. — Cam. Cal. VISITATION. The act of a superior or superintending offi- cer, who visits a corporation, college, church, or other house, to examine into the manner in which it is conducted, and see AND CUSTOMS. 309 that its laws and regulations are duly observed and exe- cuted. — Cyc, In July, 1766, a law was formally enacted, " that twice in the year, viz. at the semiannual visitation of the committee of the Overseers, some of the scholars, at the direction of the President and Tutors, shall publicly exhibit specimens of their proficiency," &c. — Quincy''s Hist, Harv. Univ., Vol. II. p. 132. WARDEN. The master or president of a college. — Eng- land, WARNING. In many colleges, when it is ascertained that a student is not living in accordance with the laws of the insti- tution, he is usually informed of the fact by a warnings as it is called, from one of the faculty, which consists merely of friendly caution and advice, thus giving him an opportunity, by correcting his faults, to escape punishment. Sadly I feel I should have been saved by numerous warnings, Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 98. No more shall " learnings " in their hearing ring. Nor " admonitions " haunt their aching head. Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 210. WHINNICK. At Hamilton College, to refuse to fulfil a promise or engagement ; to retreat from a difficulty ; to back out. WIGS. The custom of wearing wigs was, perhaps, observed nowhere in America during the last century with so much particularity as at the older colleges. Of this the following incident is illustrative. Mr. Joseph Palmer, who graduated at Harvard in the year 1747, entered college at the age of fourteen ; but, although so young, was required immediately after admission to cut off his long, flowing hair, and to cover 310 COLLEGE WORDS his head with an unsightly bag-wig. At the beginning of the present century wigs were not wholly discarded, although the fashion of wearing the hair in a queue was more in vogue. From a record of curious facts, it appears that the last wig which appeared at Commencement in Harvard College was worn by Mr. John Marsh, in the year 1819. See Dress. WINE. To drink wine. After ** wining " to a certain extent, — we sallied forth from his rooms. — Alma Mater, Vol. T. p. 14. Hither they repair each day after dinner " to wine,^^ Ibid., Vol. I. p. 95. After dinner, I had the honor of if;mm^with no less a personage than a fellow of the college. — Ibid., Vol. I. p. 114. WIRE. At Harvard College, a trick ; an artifice ; a strata- gem ; a dodge. WIRY. Trickish; artful. WITENAGEMOTE. (Saxon, witan, to know, and gemot, a meeting, a council.) In the University of Oxford, the weekly meeting of the heads of the colleges. — Oxford Guide, WOODEN SPOON. In the University of Cambridge, Eng- land, the scholar whose name stands last of all on the printed list of honors at the Bachelors' Commencement in January, is scoffingly said to gain the wooden spoon. He is also very currently himself called the wooden spoon* A young academic coming into the country immediately after this great competition, in which he had conspicuously distinguished him- self, was asked by a plain country gentleman, *' Pray, Sir, is my Jack a wrangler?" "No, Sir." Now Jack had confidently pledged himself to his uncle that he would take his degree with honor. " A senior optime? " ** No, Sir." " Why, what was he then 1 " ** Wooden spoon ! " *' Best suited to his wooden head," said the mortified inquirer. — Forby's Vocabulary/, Vol. II. p. 253. It may not perhaps be improper to mention one very remarkable personage, I mean "The Wooden Spoon.'' This luckless wight (for what cause I know not) is annually the universal butt and laughing-stock of the whole Senate-House. He is the last of those AND CUSTOMS. Sll young men who take honors, in his year, and is called a junior optime ; yet, notwithstanding his being in fact superior to them all, the very lowest of the oi ttoXXoi, or gregarious undistinguished bachelors, think themselves entitled to shoot the pointless arrows of their clumsy wit against the ivooden spoon ; and to reiterate the stale and perennial remark, that *' wranglers are born with gold spoons in their mouths, senior optimes with silver, junior optimes with wooden, and the ol ttoWol with leaden ones." — Gent. Mag., 1795, p. 19. 2. At Yale College, this title is conferred on the student who takes the last appointment at Commencement. The following account of the ceremonies incident to the pre- sentation of the Wooden Spoon has been kindly furnished by a graduate of that institution. " At Yale College the honors, or, as they are there termed, apf^ointments, are given to a class twice during the course ; — upon the merits of the two preceding years, at the end of the first term, Junior ; and at the end of the second term, Senior, upon the merits of the whole college course. There are about eight grades of appointments, the lowest of which is the Third Colloquy. Each grade has its own standard, and if a number of students have attained to the same de- gree, they receive the same appointment. It is rarely the case, however, that more than one student can claim the dis- tinction of a third colloquy, but when there are several, they draw lots to see which is entitled to be considered properly the third colloquy man. " After the Junior appointments are awarded, the mem- bers of the Junior Class hold an exhibition similar to the regular Junior exhibition, and present a wooden spoon to the man who received the lowest honor in the gift of the faculty. " The exhibition takes place in the evening at some pub- lic hall in town. Except to those engaged in the arrange- ments, nothing is known about it among the students at large, until the evening of the performances, when notices of the hour and place are quietly circulated at prayers, in order that it may not reach the ears of the faculty, who are ever too ready to participate in the sports of the students, 312 COLLEGE WORDS and to make the result tell unfavorably against the college welfare of the more prominent characters. " As the appointed hour approaches, long files of black coats may be seen emerging from the dark halls, and wind- ing their way through the classic elms towards the Temple, the favorite scene of students' exhibitions and secret festivals. When they reach the door, each man must undergo the searching scrutiny of the door-keeper, usually disguised as an Indian, to avoid being recognized by a college officer, should one chance to be in the crowd, and no one is allowed to enter unless he is known. "By the time the hour of the exercises has arrived, the hall is densely packed with undergraduates and professional students. The President, who is a non-appointment man, and probably the poorest scholar in the class, sits on a stage with his associate professors. Appropriate programmes, printed in the College style, are scattered throughout the house. As the hour strikes, the President rises with becoming dignity, and, instead of the usual phrase, ' musicam audeamus,' re- stores order among the audience by ' silentiam audeamus,' aad then addresses the band, ' Musica cantetur.' " Then follow a series of burlesque orations, dissertations, and disputes, upon scientific and other subjects, from the wittiest and cleverest men in the class, and the house is kept in a continual roar of laughter. The highest appointment men frequently take part in the speeches. From time to time the band plays, and the College choir sing pieces com- posed for the occasion. In one of the best, called Audacia, composed in imitation of the Crambambuli song, by a mem- ber of the class to which the writer belonged, the Wooden Spoon is referred to in the following stanza : — ' But do not think our life is aimless ; O, no ! we crave one blessed boon, It is the prize of value nameless, The honored, classic Wooden Spoon ; But give us this, we' 11 shout Hurrah I O, nothing like Audacia ! ' " After the speeches are concluded and the music has AND CUSTOMS. 313 ceased, the President rises and calls the name of the hero of the evening, who ascends the stage and stands before the high dignitary. The President then congratulates him upon having attained to so eminent a position, and speaks of the pride that he and his associates feel in conferring upon him the highest honor in their gift, — The Wooden Spoon. He exhorts him to pursue through life the noble cruise he has commenced in College, — not seeking glory as one of the illiterate, — the ol ttoXXoi, — nor exactly on the fence, but so near to it that he may safely be said to have gained the ' happy medium.' " The President then proceeds to the grand ceremony of the evening, — the delivery of the Wooden Spoon, — a handsomely finished spoon, or ladle, with a long handle, on which is carved the name of the Class, and the rank and honor of the recipient, and the date of its presentation. The President confers the honor in Latin, provided he and his associates are able to muster a sufficient number of sen- tences. " When the President resumes his seat, the Third Collo- quy man thanks his eminent instructors for the honor con- ferred upon him, and thanks (often with sincerity) the class for the distinction he enjoys. The exercises close with music by the band, or a burlesque colloquy. On one occa- sion, the colloquy was announced upon the programme as ' A Practical Illustration of Humbugging,'' with a long list of very witty men as speakers, to appear in original costumes. Curiosity was very much excited, and expectation on the tiptoe, when the colloquy became due. The audience waited and waited until sufficiently humbugged, when they were allowed to retire with the laugh turned against them. " Many men prefer the Wooden Spoon to any other col- lege honor or prize, because it comes directly from their classmates, and hence, perhaps, the Faculty disapprove of it, considering it as a damper to ambition and college dis- tinctions." WRANGLER. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the 27 314 COLLEGE WORDS Senior Wrangler is the student who passes the best exami- nation in the Senate-House. Then follow the second^ thirds &;c., wranglers. — Webster, See PoLLOi. WRESTLING-MATCH. At Harvard College, it was former- ly the custom, on the first Monday of the term succeeding the Commencement vacation, for the Sophomores to challenge the Freshmen who had just entered College to a wrestling- match. A writer in the New England Magazine, 1832, in an article entitled " Harvard College Forty Years Ago," re- marks as follows on this subject : " Another custom, not enjoined by the government, had been in vogue from time immemorial. That was for the Sophomores to challenge the Freshmen to a wrestling-match. If the Sophomores w^ere thrown, the Juniors gave a similar challenge. If these were conquered, the Seniors entered the lists, or treated the victors to as much wine, punch, &c., as they chose to drink. In my class, there were few who had either taste, skill, or bodily strength for this exercise, so that we were easily laid on our backs, and the Sophomores were acknowledged our superiors, in so far as ' brute force ' was concerned. Being disgusted with these customs, we held a class-meeting, early in our first quarter, and voted unanimously that we should never send a Freshman on an errand ; and, with but one dis- senting voice, that we would not challenge the next class that should enter to wrestle. When the latter vote was passed, our moderator, pointing at the dissenting individual with the finger of scorn, declared it to be a vote, nemine contradi- cenle. We commenced Sophomores, another Freshman Class entered, the Juniors challenged them, and were thrown. The Seniors invited them to a treat, and these barbarous cus- toms were soon after abolished." — Vol. III. p. 239. The Freshman Class above referred to, as superior to the Junior, was the one which graduated in 1796, of which Mr. Thomas Mason, surnamed " the College Lion," was a mem- ber, " said," remarks Mr. Buckingham, " to be the greatest wrestler that was ever in College. He was settled as a cler- AND CUSTOMS. 315 gyman at Northfield, Mass., resigned his office some years after, and several times represented that town in the Legis- ture of Massachusetts." Charles Prentiss, the wit of the Class of '95, in a will written on his departure from College life, addresses Mason as follows : — "Item. Tom M n, College Lion, Who 'd ne'er spend cash enough to buy one, The Boanerges of a pun, A man of science and of fun, That quite uncommon witty elf, Who darts his bolts and shoots himself. Who oft has bled beneath my jokes, I give my old tobacco-bo x.^'^ Buckingham's Reminiscences, Vol. II. p. 271. The fame which Mr. Mason had acquired while in College for bodily strength and skill in wrestling, did not desert him after he left. While settled as a minister at Northfield, a party of young men from Vermont challenged the young men of that town to a bout at wrestling. The challenge was accepted, and on a given day the two parties assembled at Northfield. After several rounds, when it began to ap- pear that the Vermonters were gaining the advantage, a proposal was made, by some who had heard of Mr. Mason's exploits, that he should be requested to take part in the con- test. It had now grown late, and the minister, who usually retired early, had already betaken himself to bed. Being informed of the request of the wrestlers, for a long time he refused to go, alleging as reasons his ministerial capacity, the force of example, &c. Finding these excuses of no avail, he finally arose, dressed himself, and repaired to the scene of action. Shouts greeted him on his arrival, and he found himself on the wrestling-field, as he had stood years ago at Cambridge. The champion of the Vermonters came forward, flushed with his former victories. After playing around him for some time, Mr. Mason finally threw him. Having by this time collected his ideas of the game, when another antagonist appeared, tripping up his heels with per- fect ease, he suddenly twitched him off his centre and laid 316 COLLEGE WORDS AND CUSTOMS. him on his back. Victory w£is declared in favor of North- field, and the good minister was borne home in triumph. Y. YAGER FIGHTS. At Bowdoin College, " Yager fights;' says a correspondent, " are the annual conflicts which occur between the townsmen and the students. The Yagers (from the German Sdgcr, a hunter, a chaser) were accustomed, when the lumbermen came down the river in the spring, to assemble in force, march up to the College yard with Mq and drum, get famously drubbed, and retreat in confusion to their dens. The custom has become extinct within the past four years, in consequence of the non-appearance of the Yagers." YOUNG BURSCH. In the German universities, a name given to a student during his third term, or semester. APPENDIX. ANNARUGIANS. At Centre College, Kentucky, is a society called the Annarugians, " composed," says a correspondent, " of the wildest of the College boys, who, in the most fantastic disguises, are always on hand when a wedding is to take place, and join in a most tremendous Charivari, nor can they be forced to retreat until they have received a due proportion of the sumptuous feast prepared." BARRING-OUT SPREE. At Princeton College, when the students find the North College clear of Tutors, which is about once a year, they bar up the entrance, get access to the bell, and ring it. FRESHMAN SERVITUDE. Since the account on page 138 was written, a friend has kind4y furnished the editor with a copy of the customs of Harvard College, which bears date September, 1741. It is entitled, "The Customs of Harvard College, which if the Freshmen don't ob- serve AND OBEY, THEY SHALL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED IF they HAVE HEARD THEM READ." They are as follows : — "1. No Freshman shall wear his hat in the College yard, except it rains, hails, or snows, he be on horseback, or hath both hands fuU. 318 APPENDIX. ** 2. No Freshman shall pass by his Senior,* without pulling his hat off. ** 3. No Freshman shall be saucy to his Senior, or speak to him with his hat on. " 4. No Freshman shall laugh in his Senior's face. " 5. No Freshman shall ask his Senior any impertinent ques- tion. "6. No Freshman shall intrude into his Senior's company. " 7. Freshmen are to take notice that a Senior Sophister can take a Freshman from a Sophimore,t a Master from a Senior Sophister, and a Fellow J from a Master. *' 8. When a Freshman is sent of an errand, he shall not loiter by the way, but shall make haste, and give a direct answer if asked who he is going for. " 9. No Freshman shall tell who he is a going for (unless asked), or what he is a going for, unless asked by a Fellow. " 10. No Freshman, when he is going of errands, shall go away, except he be dismissed, which is known by saying, 'It is well,' ' You may go,' * I thank you,' or the like. ** 11. Freshmen are to find the rest of the scholars with bats, balls, and footballs. § " 12. Freshmen shall pay three shillings to the Butler to have their names set up in the Buttery. " 13. No Freshman shall wear his hat in his Senior's chambers, nor in his own, if his Senior be there. " 14. When anybody knocks at a Freshman's door, he shall not ask who is there, but immediately open the door. '*15. When a Freshman knocks at his Senior's door, he^shall tell his name immediately. "16. No Freshman shall call his classmate by the name of Freshman. " 17. No Freshman shall call up or down, to or from his Senior's chamber or his own. * Senior, in this article, indicates an officer of college, or a member of either of the three upper classes, t See Sophomore. t i. e. Tutor. § The law in reference to footballs is still observed. APPENDIX. 319 " 18. No Freshman shall call or throw any thing across the Col- lege yard, nor go into the Fellows' Cuz-John.* " 19. No Freshman shall mingo against the College walls. "20. Freshmen are to carry themselves, in all respects, as to be in no wise saucy to their seniors. "21. Whatsoever Freshman shall break any of these customs, he shall be severely punished." * Abbreviated for Cousin John, i. e. a privy. THE END. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO^^ 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1.mon