A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 19

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.

Respecting the arrangement of the students at table, before referred to, Professor Sidney Willard remarks: "The intercourse among students at meals was not casual or promiscuous. Generally, the students of the same cla.s.s formed themselves into messes, as they were called, consisting each of eight members; and the length of one table was sufficient to seat two messes. A mess was a voluntary a.s.sociation of those who liked each other's company; and each member had his own place. This arrangement was favorable for good order; and, where the members conducted themselves with propriety, their cheerful conversation, and even exuberant spirits and hilarity, if not too boisterous, were not unpleasant to that portion of the government who presided at the head table. But the arrangement afforded opportunities also for combining in factious plans and organizations, tending to disorders, which became infectious, and terminated unhappily for all concerned."--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. II. pp. 192, 193.

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 b.u.t.ter and coffee, 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 system, on account of its economy and its suitableness to health and study, yet these very circ.u.mstances 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 provisions." In the plain but emphatic words of one who was acquainted with the state of commons, as they once were at Harvard College, "the b.u.t.ter 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 sometimes 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 a.s.semble before the Steward's house, and, as if their natures had been changed by their diet, would bleat and blatter 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 former times, is given by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse, p.r.o.nounced 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 college 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 desirable places for boarding than at present.

But however necessary, the Steward's department was always beset with difficulties and exposed to complaints which most gentlemen 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 Steward 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, 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 coa.r.s.e 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 manners of students and fomented disorder. The experiment of suppressing them has. .h.i.therto been only a successful one. No one, who can retain a lively remembrance of the commons 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 regulations which obtained at meal-time in commons were at one period in these words: "The waiters in the hall, appointed by the President, are to put the victuals on the tables spread with decent linen cloths, which are to be washed every week by the Steward's procurement, and the Tutors, or some of the senior scholars present, are to ask a blessing on the food, and to return thanks. All the scholars at mealtime are required to behave themselves decently and gravely, and abstain from loud talking. No victuals, platters, cups, &c. may be carried out of the hall, unless in case of sickness, and with liberty from one of the Tutors. Nor may any scholar go out before thanks are returned. And when dinner is over, the waiters are to carry the platters and cloths back into the kitchen. And if any one shall offend in either of these things, or carry away anything belonging to the hall without leave, he shall be fined sixpence."--_Laws of Yale Coll._, 1774, p. 19.

From a little work by a graduate at Yale College of the cla.s.s of 1821, the accompanying remarks, referring to the system of commons as generally understood, are extracted.

"The practice of boarding the students in commons was adopted by our colleges, naturally, and perhaps without reflection, from the old universities of Europe, and particularly from those of England. At first those universities were without buildings, either for board or lodging; being merely rendezvous for such as wished to pursue study. The students lodged at inns, or at private houses, defraying out of their own pockets, and in their own way, all charges for board and education. After a while, in consequence of the exorbitant demands of landlords, _halls_ were built, and common tables furnished, to relieve them from such exactions.

Colleges, with chambers for study and lodging, were erected for a like reason. Being founded, in many cases, by private munificence, for the benefit of indigent students, they naturally included in their economy both lodging-rooms and board. There was also a _police_ reason for the measure. It was thought that the students could be better regulated as to their manners and behavior, being brought together under the eye of supervisors."

Omitting a few paragraphs, we come to a more particular account of some of the jocose scenes which resulted from the commons system as once developed at Yale College.

"The Tutors, who were seated at raised tables, could not, with all their vigilance, see all that pa.s.sed, and they winked at much they did see. Boiled potatoes, pieces of bread, whole loaves, b.a.l.l.s of b.u.t.ter, dishes, would be flung back and forth, especially between Soph.o.m.ores and Freshmen; and you were never sure, in raising a cup to your lips, that it would not be dashed out of your hands, and the contents spilt upon your clothes, by one of these flying articles slyly sent at random. Whatever damage was done was averaged on our term-bills; and I remember a charge of six hundred tumblers, thirty coffee-pots, and I know not how many other articles of table furniture, destroyed or carried off in a single term. Speaking of tumblers, it may be mentioned as an instance of the progress of luxury, even there, that down to about 1815 such a thing was not known, the drinking-vessels at dinner being capacious pewter mugs, each table being furnished with two. We were at one time a good deal incommoded by the diminutive size of the milk-pitchers, which were all the while empty and gone for more. A waiter mentioned, for our patience, that, when these were used up, a larger size would be provided. 'O, if that's the case, the remedy is easy.' Accordingly the hint was pa.s.sed through the room, the offending pitchers were slyly placed upon the floor, and, as we rose from the tables, were crushed under foot. The next morning the new set appeared. One of the cla.s.ses being tired of _lamb, lamb, lamb_, wretchedly cooked, during the season of it, expressed their dissatisfaction by entering the hall bleating; no notice of which being taken, a day or two after they entered in advance of the Tutors, and cleared the tables of it, throwing it out of the windows, platters and all, and immediately retired.

"In truth, not much could be said in commendation of our Alma Mater's table. A worse diet for sedentary men than that we had during the last days of the _old_ hall, now the laboratory, cannot be imagined. I will not go into particulars, for I hate to talk about food. It was absolutely destructive of health. I know it to have ruined, permanently, the health of some, and I have not the least doubt of its having occasioned, in certain instances which I could specify, incurable debility and premature death."--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, pp. 113-117.

See INVALID'S TABLE. SLUM.

That the commons at Dartmouth College were at times of a quality which would not be called the best, appears from the annexed paragraph, written in the year 1774. "He [Eleazer Wheelock, President of the College] has had the mortification to lose two cows, and the rest were greatly hurt by a contagious distemper, so that they _could not have a full supply of milk_; and once the pickle leaked out of the beef-barrel, so that the _meat was not sweet_. He had also been ill-used with respect to the purchase of some wheat, so that they had s.m.u.tty bread for a while, &c. The scholars, on the other hand, say they scarce ever have anything but pork and greens, without vinegar, and pork and potatoes; that fresh meat comes but very seldom, and that the victuals are very badly dressed."--_Life of Jeremy Belknap, D.D._, pp. 68, 69.

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.

See BEVER.

COMMORANTES IN VILLA. Latin; literally, _those abiding in town_.

In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the designation of Masters of Arts, and others of higher degree, who, residing within the precincts of the University, enjoy the privilege of being members of the Senate, without keeping their names on the college boards.

--_Gradus ad Cantab._

To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his name on the books of some college, or on the list of the _commorantes in villa_.--_Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 283.

COMPOSITION. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., translating English into Greek or Latin is called _composition_.--_Bristed_.

In _composition_ and cram I was yet untried.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 34.

You will have to turn English prose into Greek and Latin prose, English verse into Greek Iambic Trimeters, and part of some chorus in the Agamemnon into Latin, and possibly also into English verse.

This is the "_composition_," and is to be done, remember, without the help of books or any other a.s.sistance.--_Ibid._, p. 68.

The term _Composition_ seems in itself to imply that the translation is something more than a translation.--_Ibid._, p.

185.

Writing a Latin Theme, or original Latin verses, is designated _Original Composition_.--_Bristed_.

COMPOSUIST. A writer; composer. "This extraordinary word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "has been much used at some of our colleges, but very seldom elsewhere. It is now rarely heard among us. A correspondent observes, that 'it is used in England among _musicians_.' I have never met with it in any English publications upon the subject of music."

The word is not found, I believe, in any dictionary of the English tongue.

COMPOUNDER. One at a university who pays extraordinary 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.--_Yale 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 cla.s.s 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. Soc., Harv. Coll._

Praying his guardian powers To a.s.sist a poor Sub Fresh at the dread Examination, And free from all _conditions_ to insure his first vacation.

_Poem before Iadma of Harv. Coll._

CONDITION. To admit a student as member of a college, who on being examined has been found deficient in some particular, the provision of his admission being that he will make up the deficiency.

A young man shall come down to college from New Hampshire, with no preparation save that of a country winter-school, shall be examined and "_conditioned_" in everything, and yet he shall come out far ahead of his city Latin-school cla.s.smate.--_A Letter to a Young Man who has just entered College_, 1849, p. 8.

They find themselves _conditioned_ on the studies of the term, and not very generally respected.--_Harvard Mag._, Vol. I. p. 415.

CONDUCT. The t.i.tle of two clergymen appointed to read prayers at Eton College, in England.--_Mason. Webster_.

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 cla.s.s, on his presenting a confession of his fault, to be read publicly in the hall. The Diary of President Leverett, 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 cla.s.s, who had been guilty of some offence for which he had been dismissed from college.

"He remained," says Mr. Leverett, "a considerable time at Boston, in a state of penance. He presented his confession to Mr.

Pemberton, who thereupon became his intercessor, and in his letter to the President expresses himself thus: 'This comes by Larnel, who brings a confession as good as Austin's, and I am charitably disposed to hope it flows from a like spirit of penitence.' In the public reading of his confession, the flowing of his pa.s.sions was extraordinarily timed, and his expressions accented, and most peculiarly and emphatically those of the grace of G.o.d to him; which indeed 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. Univ._, Vol. I. pp. 443, 444.

CONGREGATION. At Oxford, the house of _congregation_ is one of the two a.s.semblies in which the business of the University, as such, is carried on. In this house the Chancellor, or his vicar the Vice-Chancellor, or in his absence one of his four deputies, termed Pro-Vice-Chancellors, and the two Proctors, either by themselves or their deputies, always preside. The members of this body are regents, "either regents '_necessary_' or '_ad placitum_,' that is, on the one hand, all doctors and masters of arts, during the first year of their degree; and on the other, all those who have gone through the year of their necessary regency, and which includes all resident doctors, heads of colleges and halls, professors and public lecturers, public examiners, masters of the schools, or examiners for responsions or 'little go,' deans and censors of colleges, and all other M.A.'s during the second year of their regency." The business of the house of congregation, which may be regarded as the oligarchical body, is chiefly to grant degrees, and pa.s.s graces and dispensations.--_Oxford Guide_.