Chapter 38

"For some years, students, as they have entered College, have been permitted to choose the society with which they would connect themselves, instead of being alphabetically allotted to one of the two. This method has made the two societies earnest rivals, and the accession of each class to College creates an earnest struggle to see which shall secure the greater number of members. The electioneering campaign, as it is termed, begins when the students come to be examined for admission to College, that is, about the time of the Commencement, and continues through a week or two of the first term of the next year. Each society, of course, puts forth the most determined efforts to conquer. It selects the most prominent and popular men of the Senior Class as President, and arrangements are so made that a Freshman no sooner enters town than he finds himself unexpectedly surrounded by hosts of friends, willing to do anything for him, and especially instruct him in his duty with reference to the selection of societies. For the benefit of those who do not yield to this private electioneering, this Statement of Facts is made. It amounts, however, to little more than a 'good time,' as there are very few who wait to be influenced by 'facts' they know will be so distorted. The advocates of each society feel bound, of course, to present its affairs in the most favorable aspect. Disputants are selected, generally with regard to their ability as speakers, one from the Junior and one from the Senior Class. The Presidents of each society also take part."--_N.Y. Daily Times_, Sept. 22, 1855.

As an illustration of the eloquence and ability which is often displayed on these occasions, the following passages have been selected from the address of John M. Holmes of Chicago, Ill., the Junior orator in behalf of the Brothers in Unity at the Statement of Facts held September 20th, 1855.

"Time forbids me to speak at length of the illustrious alumni of the Brothers; of Professor Thatcher, the favorite of college,--of Professor Silliman, the Nestor of American literati,--of the revered head of this institution, President Woolsey, first President of the Brothers in 1820,--of Professor Andrews, the author of the best dictionary of the Latin language,--of such divines as Dwight and Murdock,--of Bacon and Bushnell, the pride of New England,--or of the great names of Clayton, Badger, Calhoun, Ellsworth, and John Davis,--all of whom were nurtured and disciplined in the halls of the Brothers, and there received the Achillean baptism that made their lives invulnerable. But perhaps I err in claiming such men as the peculium of the Brothers,--they are the common heritage of the human race.

'Such names as theirs are pilgrim shrines, Shrines to no code nor creed confined, The Delphian vales, the Palestines, The Meccas of the mind.'

"But there are other names which to overlook would be worse than negligence,--it would be ingratitude unworthy of a son of Yale.

"At the head of that glorious host stands the venerable form of Joel Barlow, who, in addition to his various civil and literary distinctions, was the father of American poetry. There too is the intellectual brow of Webster, not indeed the great defender of the Constitution, but that other Webster, who spent his life in the perpetuation of that language in which the Constitution is embalmed, and whose memory will be coeval with that language to the latest syllable of recorded time. Beside Webster on the historic canvas appears the form of the only Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States that ever graduated at this College,--Chief Justice Baldwin, of the class of 1797. Next to him is his classmate, a patriarchal old man who still lives to bless the associations of his youth,--who has consecrated the noblest talents to the noblest earthly purposes,--the pioneer of Western education,--the apostle of Temperance,--the life-long teacher of immortality,--and who is the father of an illustrious family whose genius has magnetized all Christendom. His classmate is Lyman Beecher. But a year ago in the neighboring city of Hartford there was a monument erected to another Brother in Unity,--the philanthropist who first introduced into this country the system of instructing deaf mutes. More than a thousand unfortunates bowed around his grave. And although there was no audible voice of eulogy or thankfulness, yet there were many tears. And grateful thoughts went up to heaven in silent benediction for him who had unchained their faculties, and given them the priceless treasures of intellectual and social communion. Thomas H. Gallaudet was a Brother in Unity.

"And he who has been truly called the most learned of poets and the most poetical of learned men,--whose ascent to the heaven of song has been like the pathway of his own broad sweeping eagle,--J.G. Percival,--is a Brother in Unity. And what shall I say of Morse? Of Morse, the wonder-worker, the world-girdler, the space-destroyer, the author of the noblest invention whose glory was ever concentrated in a single man, who has realized the fabulous prerogative of Olympian Jove, and by the instantaneous intercommunication of thought has accomplished the work of ages in binding together the whole civilized world into one great Brotherhood in Unity?

"Gentlemen, these are the men who wait to welcome you to the blessings of our society. There they stand, like the majestic statues that line the entrance to an eternal pyramid. And when I look upon one statue, and another, and another, and contemplate the colossal greatness of their proportions, as Canova gazed with rapture upon the sun-god of the Vatican, I envy not the man whose heart expands not with the sense of a new nobility, and whose eye kindles not with the heart's enthusiasm, as he thinks that he too is numbered among that glorious company,--that he too is sprung from that royal ancestry. And who asks for a richer heritage, or a more enduring epitaph, than that he too is a Brother in Unity?"

S.T.B. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Baccalaureus_, Bachelor in Theology.

See B.D.

S.T.D. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Doctor_. Doctor in Theology.

See D.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 college; and of performing such other services as are declared by the faculty of the college to be within his province.

STICK. In college phrase, _to stick_, or _to get stuck_, is to be unable to proceed, either in a recitation, declamation, or any other exercise. An instructor is said to _stick_ a student, when he asks a question which the student is unable to answer.

But he has not yet discovered, probably, that he ... that "_sticks_" in Greek, and cannot tell, by demonstration of his own, whether the three angles of a triangle are equal to two, or four, ... can nevertheless drawl out the word Fresh, &c.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 30.

S.T.P. _Sanctæ Theologiæ Professor_. Professor in Theology.

A degree of similar import to S.T.D., and D.D.

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_.--_Webster_.

3. At Oxford, this word is used to designate one who stands upon the foundation of the college to which he belongs, and is an aspirant for academic emoluments.--_De Quincey_.

4. In German universities, by _student_ is understood "one who has by matriculation acquired the rights of academical citizenship."--_Howitt's Student Life of Germany_, Am. ed., p. 27.

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 _study_ assigned him.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798, p. 35.

To him that occupies my _study_, I 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.

Praying his guardian powers To assist a poor "_Sub-Fresh_" at the dread examination. _Poem before the Iadma Soc. of Harv. Coll._, 1850, p. 14.

Our "_Sub-Fresh_" has that feeling. _Ibid._, p. 16.

Everybody happy, except _Sub-Fresh_, and they trying hardest to appear so.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 103.

The timid _Sub-Fresh_ had determined to construct stout barricades, with no lack of ammunition.--_Ibid._, p. 103.

Sometimes written _Sub_.

Information wanted of the "_Sub_" who didn't think it an honor to be electioneered.--_N.B., Yale Coll., June_ 14, 1851.

See PENE.

SUBJECT. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a particular author, or part of an author, set for examination; or a particular branch of Mathematics, such as Optics, Hydrostatics, &c.--_Bristed_.

To _get up a subject_, is to make one's self thoroughly master of it.--_Bristed_.

SUB-RECTOR. A rector's deputy or substitute.--_Walton, Webster_.

SUB-SIZAR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., formerly an order of students lower than the _sizars_.

Masters of all sorts, and all ages, Keepers, _subcizers_, lackeys, pages. _Poems of Bp. Corbet_, p. 22.

There he sits and sees How lackeys and _subsizers_ press And scramble for degrees. _Ibid._, p. 88.

See under SIZAR.

SUCK. At Middlebury College, to cheat at recitation or examination by using _ponies_, _interliners_, or _helps_ of any kind.

SUPPLICAT. Latin; literally, _he supplicates_. In the English universities, a petition; particularly a written application with a certificate that the requisite conditions have been complied with.--_Webster_.

A _Supplicat_, says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, is "an entreaty to be admitted to the degree of B.A.; containing a certificate that the Questionist has kept his full number of terms, or explaining any deficiency. This document is presented to the caput by the father of his college."

SURPLICE DAY. An occasion or day on which the surplice is worn by the members of a university.

"On all Sundays and Saint-days, and the evenings preceding, every member of the University, except noblemen, attends chapel in his surplice."--_Grad. ad Cantab._, pp. 106, 107.

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 separating him from his class, and compelling him to pursue those branches of study in which he is deficient under private instruction, provided for the purpose.

SUSPENSION-PAPER. The paper in which the act of suspension from college is declared.

Come, take these three _suspension-papers_; They'll teach you how to cut such capers. _Rebelliad_, p. 32.

SUSPENSION TO THE ROOM. In Princeton College, one of the punishments for certain offences subjects a student 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, SWEEPER. The name given at Yale and other colleges to the person whose occupation it 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!--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIV. p. 223.

Knocking down the _sweep_, in clearing the stairs, we described a circle to our room.--_The Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

A Freshman by the faithful _sweep_ Was found half buried in soft sleep. _Ibid._, Nov. 10, 1846.

With fingers dirty and black, From lower to upper room, A College _Sweep_ went dustily round, Plying his yellow broom. _Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 12.

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.

One of the _sweepers_ finding a parcel of wood,... the defendant, in the absence of the owner of the wood, authorizes the _sweeper_ to carry it away.--_Scenes and Characters in College_, p. 98.

SWELL BLOCK. In the University of Virginia, a sobriquet 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 _swing_, or to _swing out_, i.e. to appear with the badge of a secret society. Generally, _to swing out_ signifies to appear in something new.

The new members have "_swung out_," and all again is harmony.--_Sophomore Independent_, Union College, Nov. 1854.

SYNDIC. Latin, _syndicus_; Greek, [Greek: sundikos; sun], _with_, and [Greek: dikae], _justice_.

An officer of government, invested with different powers in different countries. Almost all the companies in Paris, the University, &c., have their _syndics_. The University of Cambridge has its _syndics_, who are chosen from the Senate to transact special business, as the regulation of fees, forming of laws, inspecting the library, buildings, printing, &c.--_Webster. Cam. Cal._

SYNDICATE. A council or body of syndics.

The state of instruction in and encouragement to the study of Theology were thus set forth in the report of a _syndicate_ appointed to consider the subject in 1842.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 293.

_T_.

TADS. At Centre College, Ky., there is "a society," says a correspondent, "composed of the very best fellows of the College, calling themselves _Tads_, who are generally associated 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. To call on a student to rehearse a lesson.

Professor _took_ him _up_ on Greek; He tried to talk, but couldn't speak. _MS Poem_.

TAKE UP ONE'S CONNECTIONS. In students' phrase, to leave college. Used in American institutions.

TARDES. At the older American colleges, when charges were made and excuses rendered in Latin, the student who had come late to any religious service was addressed by the proper officer with the word _Tardes_, a kind of barbarous second person singular of some unknown verb, signifying, probably, "You are or were late."

Much absence, _tardes_ and egresses, The college-evil on him seizes. _Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, Part I.

TARDY. In colleges, late in attendance on a public exercise.--_Webster_.

TAVERN. At Harvard College, the rooms No. 24 Massachusetts 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 uninteresting to state, that the cellars of the two buildings above mentioned were divided each into thirty-two compartments, corresponding with the number of rooms. In these the students and tutors stored their liquors, sometimes in no inconsiderable quantities. Frequent entries are met with in the 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 gauge of weights, etc.--_Cam. Cal._

TEAM. In the English universities, the pupils of a private tutor or COACH.--_Bristed_.

No man who has not taken a good degree expects or pretends to take good men into his _team_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 69.

It frequently, indeed usually happens, that a "coach" of reputation declines taking men into his _team_ before they have made time in public.--_Ibid._, p. 85.

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 College, 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 _boards_ 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_.

In the University of Cambridge, Eng., there are three terms during each year, which are fixed by invariable rules. October or Michaelmas term begins on the 10th of October, and ends on the 16th of December. Lent or January term begins on the 13th of January, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Easter or Midsummer term, begins on the eleventh day (the Wednesday sennight) after Easter-day, and ends on the Friday after Commencement day. Commencement is always on the first Tuesday in July.

At Oxford University, there are four terms in the year. Michaelmas term begins on the 10th of October, and ends on the 17th of December. Hilary term begins on the 14th of January, and ends the day before Palm Sunday. But if the Saturday before Palm Sunday should be a festival, the term does not end till the Monday following. Easter term begins on the tenth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on the day before Whitsunday. Trinity term begins on the Wednesday after Whitsunday, and ends the Saturday after the Act, which is always on the first Tuesday in July.

At the Dublin University, the terms in each year are four in number. Hilary term begins on the Monday after Epiphany, and ends the day before Palm Sunday. Easter term begins on the eighth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on Whitsun-eve. Trinity term begins on Trinity Monday, and ends on the 8th of July. Michaelmas term begins on the 1st of October (or on the 2d, if the 1st should be Sunday), and ends on December 16th.

TERRÆ 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 "Terræ-Filius; or the Secret History of the University of Oxford," printed in the year 1726.

See TRIPOS PAPER.

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.

There is not one out of twenty of my pupils who can look forward with unmixed pleasure to a _testamur_.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 254.

Every _testamur_ must be signed by three out of the four examiners, 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 conferring degrees on distinguished personages.--_Oxford Guide_.

THEME. In college phrase, a short dissertation composed by a student.

It is the practice at Cambridge [Mass.] for the Professor of Rhetoric 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 _themes_, May doze away a dozen reams. _Ibid._, p. 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 classmates 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 corrected 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.

THEME-PAPER. In American colleges, a kind of paper on which students write their themes or composition. It is of the size of an ordinary letter-sheet, contains eighteen or nineteen lines placed at wide intervals, and is ruled in red ink with a margin a little less than an inch in width.

Shoe-strings, lucifers, omnibus-tickets, _theme-paper_, postage-stamps, and the nutriment of pipes.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 266.

THEOLOGUE. A cant name among collegians for a student in theology.

The hardened hearts of Freshmen and _Theologues_ burned with righteous indignation.--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

The _Theologs_ are not so wicked as the Medics.--_Burlesque Catalogue, Yale Coll._, 1852-53, p. 30.