A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 20

CONSERVATOR. An officer who has the charge of preserving the rights and privileges of a city, corporation, or community, as in Roman Catholic universities.--_Webster_.

CONSILIUM ABEUNDI. Latin; freely, _the decree of departure_. In German universities, the _consilium abeundi_ "consists in expulsion out of the district of the court of justice within which the university is situated. This punishment lasts a year; after the expiration of which, the banished student can renew his matriculation."--_Howitt's Student Life of Germany_, Am. ed., p.

33.

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, a.s.sisted 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."

CONSt.i.tUTIONAL. Among students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., a walk for exercise.

The gallop over Bullington, and the "_const.i.tutional_" up Headington.--_Lond. Quart. Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. LXXIII. p. 53.

Instead of boots he [the Cantab] wears easy low-heeled shoes, for greater convenience in fence and ditch jumping, and other feats of extempore gymnastics which diversify his "_const.i.tutionals_".--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.

2d, p. 4.

Even the mild walks which are dignified with the name of exercise there, how unlike the Cantab's _const.i.tutional_ of eight miles in less than two hours.--_Ibid._, p. 45.

Lucky is the man who lives a mile off from his private tutor, or has rooms ten minutes' walk from chapel: he is sure of that much _const.i.tutional_ daily.--_Ibid._, p. 224.

"_Const.i.tutionals_" of eight miles in less than two hours, varied with jumping hedges, ditches, and gates; "pulling" on the river, cricket, football, riding twelve miles without drawing bridle,...

are what he understands by his two hours' exercise.--_Ibid._, p.

328.

CONSt.i.tUTIONALIZING. Walking.

The most usual mode of exercise is walking,--_const.i.tutionalizing_ is the Cantab for it.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 19.

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 pa.s.s sentence on any young offender against the laws of soberness and chast.i.ty.--_Gradus ad Cantabrigiam_.

CONVICTOR. Latin, _a familiar acquaintance_. In the University 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 college or hall, from the time of their admission to the degree of M.A., or Doctors in either of the three faculties.--_Oxf. Cal._

CONVOCATION. At Oxford, the house of _convocation_ is one of the two a.s.semblies in which the business of the University, as such, is transacted. It consists both of regents and non-regents, "that is, in brief, all masters of arts not 'honorary,' or 'ad eundems'

from Cambridge or Dublin, and of course graduates of a higher order." 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 business of this a.s.sembly--which may be considered as the house of commons, excepting that the lords have a vote here equally as in their own upper house, i.e. the house of congregation--is unlimited, extending to all subjects connected with the well-being of the University, including the election of Chancellor, members of Parliament, and many of the officers of the University, the conferring of extraordinary degrees, and the disposal of the University ecclesiastical patronage. It has no initiative power, this resting solely with the hebdomadal board, but it can debate, and accept or refuse, the measures which originate in that board.--_Oxford Guide. Literary World_, Vol. XII. p. 223.

In the University of Cambridge, England, an a.s.sembly of the Senate out of term time is called a _convocation_. In such a case a grace is immediately pa.s.sed to convert the convocation into a congregation, after which the business proceeds as usual.--_Cam.

Cal._

2. At Trinity College, Hartford, the house of _convocation_ consists of the Fellows and Professors, with all persons who have received any academic degree whatever in the same, except such as may be lawfully deprived of their privileges. Its business is such as may from time to time be delegated by the Corporation, from which it derives its existence; and is, at present, limited to consulting and advising for the good of the College, nominating the Junior Fellows, and all candidates for admissions _ad eundem_; making laws for its own regulation; proposing plans, measures, or counsel to the Corporation; and to inst.i.tuting, endowing, and naming with concurrence of the same, professorships, scholarships, prizes, medals, and the like. This and the _Corporation_ compose the _Senatus Academicus_.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, pp. 6, 7.

COPE. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the ermined robe worn by a Doctor in the Senate House, on Congregation Day, is called a _cope_.

COPUS. "Of mighty ale, a large quarte."--_Chaucer_.

The word _copus_ and the beverage itself are both extensively used among the _men_ of the University of Cambridge, England. "The conjecture," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "is surely ridiculous and senseless, that _Copus_ is contracted from _Epis_copus, 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."

COPY. At Cambridge, Eng., this word is applied exclusively to papers of verse composition. It is a public-school term transplanted to the University.--_Bristed_.

CORK, CALK. In some of the Southern colleges, this word, with 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.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. In the older American colleges, 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 perverso, seu 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 Fellows 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 continue in force until this Court or the Overseers of the College 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 chastis.e.m.e.nt. 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 manners 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.)

"'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 tolerated a law authorizing so degrading a treatment of the members 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 occasioned 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 revised 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 circ.u.mstances 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 cla.s.s of 1746, observed, that in his day 'corporal punishment was going out of use'; and at length it was expunged from the code, never, we trust, to be recalled from the rubbish of past absurdities."--pp. 227, 228.

The last movements which were made in reference to corporal punishment are thus stated by President Quincy, 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 regarded 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 hesitated, and appointed a large committee 'to consider and make report what punishments they apprehend proper to be subst.i.tuted 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 practice was discontinued."--Vol. II. p. 134.

The manner in which corporal punishment was 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 boxing 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.'[12] 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 remarkable, was as follows. A student in the first quarter of his Soph.o.m.ore year, having 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 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 accordingly 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 punishment 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 punishment 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 playing 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 hall on Friday.' At this chastis.e.m.e.nt all undergraduates were required to be lookers on, the Dean having the rod of punishment in his hand; and it was provided also, that whosoever should not answer to his name on this occasion, if a boy, should be flogged on Sat.u.r.day. 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 treatment of the young, may account for this system being laid aside at the universities; although, as is well known, it continues 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. Quincy 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 a.s.sumed, 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 stating 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 afterwards they were frequently, though not uniformly, inserted."--Vol. I. p. 274.

2. At Trinity College, Hartford, the _Corporation_, on which the _House of Convocation_ is wholly dependent, and to which, by law, belongs the supreme control of the College, consists of not more than twenty-four Trustees, resident within the State of Connecticut; the Chancellor and President of the College being _ex officio_ members, and the Chancellor being _ex officio_ President of the same. They have authority to fill their own vacancies; to appoint to offices and professorships; to direct and manage the funds for the good of the College; and, in general, to exercise the powers of a collegiate society, according to the provisions of the charter.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p. 6.

COSTUME. At the English universities there are few objects that attract the attention of the stranger more than the various academical dresses worn by the members of those inst.i.tutions. The following description of the various costumes a.s.sumed in the University of Cambridge is taken from "The Cambridge Guide," Ed.

1845.

"A _Doctor in Divinity_ has three robes: the _first_, a gown made of scarlet cloth, with ample sleeves terminating in a point, and lined with rose-colored silk, which is worn in public processions, and on all state and festival days;--the _second_ is the cope, worn at Great St. Mary's during the service on Litany-days, in the Divinity Schools during an Act, and at Conciones ad Clerum; it is made of scarlet cloth, and completely envelops the person, being closed down the front, which is trimmed with an edging of ermine; at the back of it is affixed a hood of the same costly fur;--the _third_ is a gown made of black silk or poplin, with full, round sleeves, and is the habit commonly worn in public by a D.D.; Doctors, however, sometimes wear a Master of Arts' gown, with a silk scarf. These several dresses are put over a black silk ca.s.sock, which covers the entire body, around which it is fastened by a broad sash, and has sleeves coming down to the wrists, like a coat. A handsome scarf of the same materials, which hangs over the shoulders, and extends to the feet, is always worn with the scarlet and black gowns. A square black cloth cap, with silk ta.s.sel, completes the costume.