Chapter 35

SELL. To give an unexpected answer; to deceive; to cheat.

For the love you bear me, never tell how badly I was _sold_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 94.

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 sham upon one," is now scarcely ever heard. It was once a favorite expression with certain English writers.

Where _sold he bargains_, Whipstitch?--_Dryden_.

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 distinctions 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 House_, and _Moss-covered Head_.

SENATE. In the University of Cambridge, England, the legislative body of the University. It is divided into two houses, called REGENT and NON-REGENT. The former consists of the vice-chancellor, proctors, taxors, moderators, and esquire-beadles, all masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and all doctors of divinity, civil law, and physic, of less than two, and is called the UPPER HOUSE, or WHITE-HOOD HOUSE, from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk. The latter is composed of masters of arts of five years' standing, bachelors of divinity, and doctors in the three faculties of two years' standing, and is known as the LOWER HOUSE, or BLACK-HOOD HOUSE, its members wearing black silk hoods. To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his name on the books of some college (which involves a small annual payment), or in the list of the _commorantes in villâ_.--_Webster. Cam. Cal. Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 283.

2. 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 purpose 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 Representatives meet in their hall, and await their initiation to the Upper House. There soon appears a committee of 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 conclusion of this they take their seats, and proceed to the election 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 principally occupied with the discussion of resolutions, in committee 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 'Commencement Card.'"

On the same subject, another correspondent writes as follows:--

"The Senate is composed of the Senior Class, and is intended as a school of parliamentary usages. The officers are a President, Vice-President, and Secretary, who are chosen once a term. At the close of the second term, the Junior Class are admitted into the Senate. They are introduced by a committee of Senators, and are expected to remain standing and uncovered during the ceremony, the President and Senators being seated and covered. After a short address by the President, the old Senators leave the house, and the Juniors proceed to elect their officers for the third term. Dr. Thomas C. Reed who was the founder of the Senate, was always elected President during his connection with the College, but rarely took his place in the chamber except at the introduction of the Juniors. The Vice-President for the third term, who takes a part in the ceremonies of commencement, is considered to hold the highest honor of the class, and his election is attended with more excitement than any other in the College."

See COMMENCEMENT CARD; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SENATE-HOUSE. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the building in which the public business of the University, such as examinations, the passing of graces, and admission to degrees, is carried on.--_Cam. Guide_.

SENATUS ACADEMICUS. At Trinity College, Hartford, the _Senatus Academicus_ consists of two houses, known as the CORPORATION and the HOUSE OF CONVOCATION, q.v.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p. 6.

SENE. An abbreviation for Senior.

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.--_Webster_.

See SOPHISTER.

SENIOR. Noting the fourth year of the collegiate course in American colleges, or the third year in theological seminaries.--_Webster_.

SENIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his third year after taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is further explained by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse: "Bachelors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors, according to the year since graduation and before taking the degree of Master."--p. 122.

SENIOR CLASSIC. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the student who passes best in the voluntary examination in classics, which follows the last required examination in the Senate-House.

No one stands a chance for _Senior Classic_ alongside of him.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 55.

Two men who had been rivals all the way through school and through college were racing for _Senior Classic_.--_Ibid._, p. 253.

SENIOR FELLOW. At Trinity College, Hartford, the Senior Fellow is a person chosen to attend the college examinations during the year.

SENIOR FRESHMAN. The name of the second of the four classes into which undergraduates are divided at Trinity College, Dublin.

SENIORITY. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., 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 before the _Seniority_.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 75.

SENIOR OPTIME. Those who occupy the second rank in honors at the close of the final examination at the University of Cambridge, Eng., are denominated _Senior Optimes_.

The Second Class, or that of _Senior Optimes_, is larger in number [than that of the Wranglers], usually exceeding forty, and sometimes reaching above sixty. This class contains a number of disappointments, many who expect to be Wranglers, and some who are generally expected to be.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 228.

The word is frequently abbreviated.

The Pembroker ... had the pleasant prospect of getting up all his mathematics for a place among the _Senior Ops._--_Ibid._, p. 158.

He would get just questions enough to make him a low _Senior Op._ --_Ibid._, p. 222.

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 order, 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 SOPHISTER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student in the third year of his residence is called a Senior Soph or Sophister.

2. In some American colleges, a member of the Senior Class, i.e. of the fourth year, was formerly designated a Senior Sophister.

See SOPHISTER.

SENIOR WRANGLER. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the Senior Wrangler is the student who passes the best examination in the Senate-House, and by consequence holds the first place on the Mathematical Tripos.

The only road to classical honors and their accompanying emoluments in the University, and virtually in all the Colleges, except Trinity, is through mathematical honors, all candidates for the Classical Tripos being obliged as a preliminary to obtain a place in that mathematical list which is headed by the _Senior Wrangler_ and tailed by the Wooden Spoon.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 34.

SEQUESTER. To cause to retire or withdraw into obscurity. In the following passage it is used in the collegiate sense of _suspend_ or _rusticate_.

Though they were adulti, they were corrected in the College, and _sequestered_, &c. for a time.--_Winthrop's Journal, by Savage_, Vol. II. p. 88.

SERVITOR. In the University of Oxford, an undergraduate who is partly supported by the college funds. _Servitors_ formerly waited at table, but this is now dispensed with. The order similar to that of the _servitor_ was at Cambridge styled the order of _Sub-sizars_. This has been long extinct. The _sizar_ at Cambridge is at present nearly equivalent to the Oxford _servitor_.--_Gent. Mag._, 1787, p. 1146. _Brande_.

"It ought to be known," observes De Quincey, "that the class of '_servitors_,' once a large body in Oxford, have gradually become practically extinct under the growing liberality of the age. They carried in their academic dress a mark of their inferiority; they waited at dinner on those of higher rank, and performed other menial services, humiliating to themselves, and latterly felt as no less humiliating to the general name and interests of learning."--_Life and Manners_, p. 272.

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 regularly given to the students; a term.

The _session_ commences on the 1st of October, and continues without interruption until the 29th of June.--_Cat. of Univ. of Virginia_, 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 more than a half-century 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_." 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, entitled 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:--

"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: "Alluding to the Psalm which is _always_ sung in Harvard Hall on Commencement day." In his account of some of the exercises attendant upon the Commencement at Harvard College in 1848, Professor Sidney Willard observes: "At the Commencement dinner the sitting is not of long duration; and we retired from table soon after the singing of the Psalm, which, with some variation in the version, has been sung on the same occasion from time immemorial."--_Memoirs of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. II. p. 65.

But that we cannot take these accounts as correct in their full extent, appears from an entry in the MS. Diary of Chief Justice Sewall relating to a Commencement in 1685, which he closes with these words: "After Dinner ye 3d part of ye 103d Ps. was sung in ye Hall."

In the year 1793, at the dinner on Commencement Day, the Rev. Joseph Willard, then President of the College, requested Mr. afterwards Dr. John Pierce, to set the tune to the Psalm; with which request having complied to the satisfaction 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 associate 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 considered hardly sufficient, it would appear that the following are the versions in which the sons of Harvard have been accustomed to sing the Psalm of the son of Jesse.

1.--_The New England Version_.

"In 1639 there was an agreement amo. ye Magistrates and Ministers to set aside ye Psalms then printed at ye 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 Roxbury, were selected to make a metrical translation, to whom the Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge gives the following metrical caution:--

"Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of ye crime Of missing to give us very good rhyme, And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen, But with the texts own words you will y'm 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 North American press that rises to the dignity of _a book_. 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 possessed the other requisite qualifications for the task, was employed to revise and polish it; and in two or three years, with the assistance of Mr. Richard Lyon, a young gentleman who was sent from England by Sir Henry Mildmay to attend his son, then a student in Harvard College, he produced 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 societies 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'l not hide, To th' after age shewing The Lords prayses; his strength, and works Of his wondrous doing.

In Jacob he a witnesse set, And put in Israell 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.--_Watts's Version_.

The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts were first published 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'll convey his wonders down Through every rising race.

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;

3.--_Brady and Tate's Version_.

In the year 1803, the Seventy-eighth Psalm was first printed on a small 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 published in London in 1698, and in this country about the year 1739. 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 wrought.

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;[62] to my law Devout attention lend; Let the instructions[63] 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.

Let children learn[64] 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 spiritual songs were usually printed, as appears above, "at ye end of their Bibles," was the first which was sung at Commencement 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.

SHADY. Among students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., an epithet of depreciation, equivalent to MILD and SLOW.--_Bristed_.

Some ... are rather _shady_ in Greek and Latin.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 147.

My performances on the Latin verse paper were very _shady_.--_Ibid._, p. 191.

SHARK. In student language, an absence from a recitation, a lecture, or from prayers, prompted by recklessness rather than by necessity, is called a _shark_. He who is absent under these circumstances is also known as a shark.

The Monitors' task is now quite done, They 've pencilled all their marks, "Othello's occupation's gone,"-- No more look out for _sharks_. _Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 45.

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 diplomas. 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 Dict. 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_.