Arriving at Lord Bibo's study,They thought they'd be a littlebloody;So, with a bold, presumptuous look,An honest pinch of snuff they took.Rebelliad, p. 44.
They roar'd and bawl'd, and were sobloody,As to besiege Lord Bibo's study.
Ibid., p. 76.
BLOW. A merry frolic with drinking; a spree. A person intoxicated is said to beblown, and Mr. Halliwell, in his Dict. Arch. and Prov. Words, hasblowboll, 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 wordsspree,tight, &c.
My fellow-students had been engaged at ablowtill the stagehorn had summoned them to depart.—Harvard Register, 1827-28, p. 172.
No soft adagio from the muse ofblows,E'er roused indignant from serene repose.Ibid., p. 233.
And, if no comingblowhis thoughts engage,Lights candle and cigar.Ibid., p. 235.
The person who engages in a blow is also called ablow.
I could see, in the long vista of the past, the many hardenedblowswho had rioted here around the festive board.—Collegian, p. 231.
BLUE. In several American colleges, a student who is very strict in observing the laws, and conscientious in performing his duties, is styled ablue. "Our real delvers, midnight students," says a correspondent from Williams College, "are calledblue."
I wouldn't carry a novel into chapel to read, not out of any respect for some people's old-womanish twaddle about the sacredness of the place,—but because some of thebluesmight see you.—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XV. p. 81.
Each jolly soul of them, save theblues,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 ablue, and fell back in his chair in a pouting fit.—The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 118.
To acquire popularity,… he must lose his money at bluff and euchre without a sigh, and damn up hill and down the sober church-going man, as an out-and-outblue.—The Parthenon, Union Coll., 1851, p. 6.
BLUE-LIGHT. At the University of Vermont this term is used, writes a correspondent, to designate "a boy who sneaks about college, and reports to the Faculty the short-comings of his fellow-students. Ablue-lightis occasionally found watching the door of a room where a party of jolly ones are roasting a turkey (which in justice belongs to the nearest farm-house), that he may go to the Faculty with the story, and tell them who the boys are."
BLUES. The name of a party which formerly existed at Dartmouth College. In The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117, 1842, is the following:—"The students here are divided into two parties,—theRowesand theBlues. The Rowes are very liberal in their notions; theBluesmore strict. The Rowes don't pretend to say anything worse of a fellow than to call him a Blue, andvice versa"
See INDIGO and ROWES.
BLUE-SKIN. This word was formerly in use at some American colleges, with the meaning now given to the word BLUE, q.v.
I, with my little colleague here,Forth issued from my cell,To see if we could overhear,Or make someblue-skintell.The Crayon, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 22.
BOARD. Theboards, orcollege boards, in the English universities, are long wooden tablets on which the names of the members of each college are inscribed, according to seniority, generally hung up in the buttery.—Gradus ad Cantab. Webster.
I gave in my resignation this time without recall, and took my name off theboards.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 291.
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, usuallyplaced(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 College Buttery, 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 (which was considered the next highest punishment to expulsion), it was moved accordingly."—Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ., p. 311.
BOGS. Among English Cantabs, a privy.—Gradus ad Cantab.
BOHN. A translation; a pony. The volumes of Bohn's Classical Library are in such general use among undergraduates in American colleges, thatBohnhas come to be a common name for a translation.
'Twas plenty of skin with a good deal ofBohn.Songs, Biennial Jubilee, Yale Coll., 1855.
BOLT. An omission of a recitation or lecture. A correspondent from Union College 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 witnessed in the city, we would call a 'class meeting,' to consider upon the propriety of asking Professor —— for abolt. We had our chairman, and the subject being debated, was generally decided in favor of the remission. A committee of good steady fellows were selected, who forthwith waited upon the Professor, and, after urging the matter, commonly returned with the welcome assurance that we could have aboltfrom the next recitation."
One writer defines aboltin these words:—"The promiscuous stampede of a class collectively. Caused generally by a few seconds' tardiness of the Professor, occasionally by finding the lock of the recitation-room door filled with shot."—Sophomore Independent, Union College, Nov. 1854.
The quiet routine of college life had remained for some days undisturbed, even by a singlebolt.—Williams Quarterly, Vol. II. p. 192.
BOLT. At Union College, to be absent from a recitation, on the conditions related under the noun BOLT. Followed byfrom. At Williams College, the word is applied with a different signification. A correspondent writes: "We sometimesboltfrom 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-bolt."
BOLTER. At Union College, one whoboltsfrom a recitation.
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 'bolter.'"
BONFIRE. The making of bonfires, by students, is not an unfrequent occurrence at many of our colleges, and is usually 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 illumination, any students crying fire, sounding an alarm, leaving their rooms, shouting or clapping from the windows, going to the fire or being seen at it, going into the college yard, or assembling on account of such bonfire, shall be deemed aiding and abetting such disorder, and punished accordingly."—Laws, 1848,Bonfires.
A correspondent from Bowdoin College writes: "Bonfires occur regularly twice a year; one on the night preceding 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 construction of the pile occupies from four to five hours."
Not ye, whom midnight cry ne'er urged to runIn search of fire, when fire there had been none;Unless, perchance, some pump or hay-mound threwItsbonfirelustre o'er a jolly crew.Harvard Register, p. 233.
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 hour appointed should expire, and thebook-keeper'slight should disappear from his window; "For while his light holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return."—Collegian, p. 225.
See FRESHMAN, COLLEGE.
He made a good fight of it, and … beat the Trinity man a little on thebook-work.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 96.
The men are continually writing outbook-work, either at home or in their tutor's rooms.—Ibid., p. 149.
BOOT-FOX. This name was at a former period given, in the German universities, to a fox, or a student in his first half-year, from the fact of his being required to black the boots of his more advanced comrades.
BOOTLICK. To fawn upon; to court favor.
Scorns the acquaintance of those he deems beneath him; refuses tobootlickmen 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, fawning,bootlickinghypocrites.—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 knowledge of some passage. They areBootlicks, and that is known asBootlicking; a reproach, I am sorry to say, too indiscriminately applied." At Yale, andother colleges, a tutor or any other officer who informs against the students, or acts as a spy upon their conduct, is also called abootlick.
Three or fourbootlickersrise.—Yale Banger, Oct. 1848.
The rites of Wooden Spoons we next recite,Whenbootlickhypocrites upraised their might.Ibid., Nov. 1849.
Then he arose, and offered himself as a "bootlick" to theFaculty.—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.
BORE. A tiresome person or unwelcome visitor, who makes himself obnoxious by his disagreeable manners, or by a repetition of visits.—Bartlett.
A person or thing that wearies by iteration.—Webster.
Although the use of this word is very general, yet it is so peculiarly applicable to the many annoyances to which a collegian is subjected, that it has come by adoption to be, to a certain extent, a student term. One writer classes under this title "text-books generally; the Professor who marksslightmistakes; the familiar young man who calls continually, and when he finds the door fastened demonstrates his verdant curiosity by revealing an inquisitive countenance through the ventilator."—Sophomore Independent, Union College, Nov. 1854.
In college parlance, prayers, when the morning is cold or rainy, are abore; a hard lesson is abore; a dull lecture or lecturer is abore; and,par excellence, an unwelcome visitor is aboreofbores. This latter personage is well described in the following lines:—
"Next comes the bore, with visage sad and pale,And tortures you with some lugubrious tale;Relates stale jokes collected near and far,And in return expects a choice cigar;Your brandy-punch he calls the merest sham,Yet does notscrupleto partake adram.His prying eyes your secret nooks explore;No place is sacred to the college bore.Not e'en the letter filled with Helen's praise,Escapes the sight of his unhallowed gaze;Ere one short hour its silent course has flown,Your Helen's charms to half the class are known.Your books he takes, nor deigns your leave to ask,Such forms to him appear a useless task.When themes unfinished stare you in the face,Then enters one of this accursed race.Though like the Angel bidding John to write,Frail ——— form uprises to thy sight,His stupid stories chase your thoughts away,And drive you mad with his unwelcome stay.When he, departing, creaks the closing door,You raise the Grecian chorus, [Greek: kikkabau]."[02]MS. Poem, F.E. Felton, Harv. Coll.
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 theSeniorandJunior Bos.
BOSH. Nonsense, trash, [Greek: phluaria]. An English Cantab's expression.—Bristed.
But Spriggins's peculiar forte is that kind of talk which some people irreverently call "bosh."—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XX. p. 259.
BOSKY. In the cant of the Oxonians, being tipsy.—Grose.
Now when he comes home fuddled, aliasBosky, I shall not be so unmannerly as to say his Lordship ever gets drunk.—The Sizar, cited inGradus ad Cantab., pp. 20, 21.
BOWEL. At Harvard College, a student in common parlance will express his destitution or poverty by saying, "I have not abowel." The use of the word with this signification has arisen, probably, from a jocular reference to a quaint Scriptural expression.
BRACKET. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the result of the final examination in the Senate-House is published in lists signed by the examiners. In these lists the names of those who have been examined are "placed in individual order of merit." When the rank of two or three men is the same, their names are inclosed inbrackets.
At the close of the course, and before the examination is concluded, there is made out a new arrangement of the classes called theBrackets. These, in which each is placed according to merit, are hung upon the pillars in the Senate-House.—Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 93.
As there is no provision in the printed lists for expressing the number of marks by which each man beats the one next below him, and there may be more difference between the twelfth and thirteenth than between the third and twelfth, it has been proposed to extend the use of thebrackets(which are now only employed in cases of literal equality between two or three men), and put together six, eight, or ten, whose marks are nearly equal. —Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 227.
BRACKET. In a general sense, to place in a certain order.
I very early in the Sophomore year gave up all thoughts of obtaining high honors, and settled down contentedly among the twelve or fifteen who arebracketed, after the first two or three, as "English Orations."—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 6.
There remained but two,bracketedat the foot of the class.—Ibid., p. 62.
The Trinity man who wasbracketedSenior Classic.—Ibid., p. 187.
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 theBranders, as those are called who have been already one term at the University, and then at a given signal were set on fire, and theBrandersrode round the table on chairs, amid roars of laughter.—Longfellow's Hyperion, p. 114.
See BRAND-FOX, BURNT FOX.
BRAND-FOX. A student in a German university "becomes aBrand-fuchs, or fox with a brand, after the foxes of Samson," in his second half-year.—Howitt.
BRICK. A gay, wild, thoughtless fellow, but not sohardas the word itself might seem to imply.
He is a queer fellow,—not so bad as he seems,—his own enemy, but a regularbrick.—Collegian's Guide, p. 143.
He will come himself (public tutor or private), like abrickas he is, and consume his share of the generous potables.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 78.
See LIKE A BRICK.
BRICK MILL. At the University of Vermont, the students speak of the college as theBrick Mill, or theOld Brick Mill.
BUCK. At Princeton College, anything which is in an intensive degree good, excellent, pleasant, or agreeable, is calledbuck.
BULL. At Dartmouth College, to recite badly; to make a poor recitation. From the substantivebull, a blunder or contradiction, or from the use of the word as a prefix, signifying large, lubberly, blundering.
BULL-DOG. In the English universities, the lictor or servant who attends a proctor when on duty.
Sentiments which vanish for ever at the sight of the proctor with hisbull-dogs, as they call them, or four muscular fellows which always follow him, like so many bailiffs.—Westminster Rev., Am. Ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 232.
The proctors, through their attendants, commonly calledbull-dogs, received much certain information, &c.—Collegian's Guide, p. 170.
And he had breathed the proctor'sdogs.Tennyson, Prologue to Princess.
BULLY CLUB. The following account of theBully Club, which was formerly a most honored transmittendum at Yale College, is taken from an entertaining little work, entitled Sketches of Yale College. "Bullyismhad its origin, like everything 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 offence 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 theBully Clubwas 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 processions, 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 strong party proposed a change: but the supporters of antiquity pleaded the venerable character of the customs identified almost with the College itself. Thus the classes were divided, a part electing a marshal, class-leader, or moderator, and a part still choosing abullyandminor bully—the latter 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 procession 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."
A more particular account of the Bully Club, and of the manner in which the students of Yale came to possess it, is given in the annexed extract.
"Many years ago, the farther back towards the Middle Ages the better, some students went out one evening to an inn at Dragon, as it was then called, now the populous and pretty village of Fair Haven, to regale themselves with an oyster supper, or for some other kind of recreation. They there fell into an affray with the young men of the place, a hardy if not a hard set, who regarded their presence there, at their own favorite resort, as an intrusion. The students proved too few for their adversaries. They reported the matter at College, giving an aggravated account of it, and, being strongly reinforced, went out the next evening to renew the fight. The oystermen and sailors were prepared for them. A desperate conflict ensued, chiefly in the house, above stairs and below, into which the sons of science entered pell-mell. Which came off the worse, I neither know nor care, believing defeat to be far less discreditable to either party, and especially to the students, than the fact of their engaging in such a brawl. Where the matter itself is essentially disgraceful, success or failure is indifferent, as it regards the honor of the actors. Among the Dragoners, a great bully of a fellow, who appeared to be their leader, wielded a huge club, formed from an oak limb, with a gnarled excrescence on the end, heavy enough to battle with an elephant. A student remarkable for his strength in the arms and hands, griped the fellow so hard about the wrist that his fingers opened, and let the club fall. It was seized, and brought off as a trophy. Such is the history of the Bully Club. It became the occasion of an annual election of a person to take charge of it, and to act as leader of the students in case of a quarrel between them, and others. 'Bully' was the title of this chivalrous and high office."—Scenes and Characters in College, New Haven, 1847, pp. 215, 216.
BUMPTIOUS. Conceited, forward, pushing. An English Cantab's expression.—Bristed.
About nine, A.M., the new scholars are announced from the chapel gates. On this occasion it is not etiquette for the candidates themselves to be in waiting,—it looks too "bumptious."—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 193.
BURIAL OF EUCLID. "The custom of bestowing burial honors upon the ashes of Euclid with becoming demonstrations 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 Faculty) 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, foronceat least seethroughthe whole affair. They then march over it in solemn procession, and are enabled, as they step 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 mumbling of a cracked drum, to the open 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 committed 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 procession, are placed in 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 interest in the observance of this custom at Yale College has not since that time diminished, may be inferred from the following 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 Tribune.
"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 'Zeus,' and fortunately was not betrayed. The hall being full at half past ten, the doors were closed, and the exercises commenced with music. Then followed numerous pieces of various character, and among them anOration, aPoem,Funeral Sermon(of a very metaphysical character), aDirge, and, at the grave, aPrayer 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 Programme, 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 appropriate pieces. A large coffin was placed before the altar, within which, lay the veritable Euclid, arranged in a becoming winding-sheet, the body being composed of combustibles, and these thoroughly saturated with turpentine. The company 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 complement 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 the south end of the College, where they were saluted with three hearty cheers by their fellow-students, and then continued 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 toquasiPotter's Field, about a mile from the city, where the concluding ceremonies were performed. These consist of walking over the coffin, thussurmounting the difficultiesof the author; boring a hole through a copy of Euclid with a hot iron, that the class may seethroughit; and finally burning it upon the funeral pyre, in order tothrow lightupon the subject. After these exercises, the procession returned, with music, to the State-House, where they disbanded, and returned to their desolate habitations. The affair surpassed anything 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 theNew York Tribune.
In the Sketches of Williams College, printed in the year 1847, is a description of the manner in which the funeral exercises 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 reflected the image of old Euclid. In the body of the corpse was a triangular hole, made for thepost mortemexamination, 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, half a mile south of the College. 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 appearance. 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. Haying 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, lighting our larches by the dying fire, we retraced our steps with feelings suited to the occasion."—pp. 74-76.
Of this observance the writer of the preface to the "Songs of Yale" remarks: "TheBurial of Euclidis an old ceremony practised at many colleges. At Yale it is conducted by the Sophomore Class during the first term of the year. After literary exercises within doors, a procession is formed, which proceeds at midnight through the principal streets of the city, with music and torches, conveying a coffin, supposed to contain the body of the old mathematician, to the funeral pile, when the whole is fired and consumed to ashes."—1853, p. 4.
From the lugubrious songs which are usually sung on these sad occasions, the following dirge is selected. It appears in the order of exercises for the "Burial of Euclid by the Class of '57," which took place at Yale College, November 8, 1854.
Tune,—"Auld Lang Syne."
Come, gather all ye tearful Sophs,And stand around the ring;Old Euclid's dead, and to his shadeA requiem we'll sing:Then join the saddening chorus, allYe friends of Euclid true;Defunct, he can no longer bore,"[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"[03]
Though we to Pluto _dead_icate,No god to take him deigns,So, one short year from now will FateBring back his sadre-manes:For at Biennial his ghostWill prompt the tutor blue,And every fizzling Soph will cry,"[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"
Though here we now hiscorpusburn,And flames about him roar,The future Fresh shall say, that he's"Not dead, but gone before":We close around the dusky bier,And pall of sable hue,And silently we drop the tear;"[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"
BURLESQUE BILL. At Princeton College, it is customary for the members of the Sophomore Class to hold annually a Sophomore Commencement, caricaturing that of the Senior Class. The Sophomore Commencement is in turn travestied by the Junior Class, who prepare and publishBurlesque Bills, as they are called, in which, in a long and formal programme, such subjects and speeches are attributed to the members of the Sophomore Class as are calculated to expose their weak points.
See SOPHOMORE COMMENCEMENT.
BURLINGTON. At Middlebury College, a water-closet, privy. So called on account of the good-natured rivalry between that institution and the University of Vermont at Burlington.
BURNING OF CONIC SECTIONS. "This is a ceremony," writes a correspondent, "observed by the Sophomore Class of Trinity College, on the Monday evening of Commencement week. The incremation of this text-book is made by the entire class, who appear in fantastic rig and in torch-light procession. The ceremonies are held in the College grove, and are graced with an oration and poem. The exercises are usually closed by a class supper."
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 appointed, the class hold a meeting and elect the marshals of the night. A large pyre is built during the evening, of rails and pine wood, 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 requested at the exercises, which consist of two poems, a tragedy, and a funeral oration. A coffin is laid out with the "remains" of the book, and the literary exercises are performed. 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 with 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, 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 succeed festivities, which are usually continued until daylight.
BURNING OF ZUMPT'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 turning 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 aburnt fox.
BURSAR,pl.BURSARII. A treasurer or cash-keeper; as, thebursarof 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 orBursar.—Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ., App., p. 11.
Every student is required on his arrival, at the commencement of each session, to deliver to theBursarthe moneys and drafts for money which he has brought with him. It is the duty of theBursarto 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 inBrande's Dict. Science, Lit., and Art.
BURSARY. The treasury of a college or monastery.—Webster.
2. In Scotland, an exhibition.—Encyc.
BURSCH (bursh),pl.BURSCHEN. German. A youth; especially a student in a German university.
"Bybursché," says Howitt, "we understand one who has already spent a certain time at the university,—and who, to a certain degree, has taken part in the social practices of the students."—Student Life of Germany, Am. Ed., p. 27.
Und hat derBurschkein Geld im Beutel,So pumpt er die Philister an,Und denkt: es ist doch Alles eitelVomBurschenbis zum Bettleman.Crambambuli Song.
Student life!Burschenlife! What a magic sound have these words for him who has learnt for himself their real meaning.—Howitt's 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.—Brandt.
"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 perfect 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 political tendencies."—Vol. XV. p. 3.
BURSE. In France, a fund or foundation for the maintenance of poor scholars in their studies. In the Middle Ages, it signified a little college, or a hall in a university.—Webster.
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 calledthe Burt, from a person of that name, who many years ago was employed as the architect and builder of thelatrinæof that institution.
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, clinging to the bed-clothes in all the agony of despair, forgot tobusyhis midnight visitor.—Harv. Reg., p. 84.
Whenever, during that sacred season, a knock salutes my door, I respond with abusy.—Collegian, p. 25.
"Busy" is a hard word to utter, often, though heart and conscience and the college clock require it.—Scenes and Characters in College, p. 58.
BUTLER. Anciently written BOTILER. A servant or officer whose principal business is to take charge of the liquors, food, plate, &c. In the old laws of Harvard College we 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 ordered 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 FRESHMAN, BUTLER'S.—Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ., App., pp. 138, 139.Laws Harv. Coll., 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 standing, 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 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 elsewhere. 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 privilege he paid a small annual sum. He was bound, in consideration 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 contract 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 twoButters."—Grad. ad Cantab.
Six cheeses, threebutters, and two beers.—The Collegian'sGuide.
Pertinent to this singular use of the word, is the following curious statement. At Cambridge, Eng., "there is a market every day in the week, except Monday, for vegetables, poultry, eggs, and butter. The sale of the last article is attended with the peculiarity of every pound designed for the market being rolled out to the length of a yard; each pound being in that state about the thickness of a walking-cane. This practice, which is confined to Cambridge, is particularly convenient, as it renders the butter extremely easy of division into small portions, calledsizes, as used in the Colleges."—Camb. Guide, Ed. 1845, p. 213.
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.—Webster.
Of the Buttery, Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard University, speaks as follows: "As the Commons rendered the College independent of private boarding-houses, so theButteryremoved 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 Buttery was also an office, where, among other things, records were kept of the times when the scholars were present and absent. At their admission and subsequent 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 hisFreshman, 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.
With particular reference to the condition of Harvard College a few years prior to the Revolution, Professor Sidney Willard observes: "The Buttery was in part a sort of appendage to Commons, where the scholars could eke out their short commons with sizings of gingerbread and pastry, or needlessly or injuriously cram themselves to satiety, as they had been accustomed to be crammed at home by their fond mothers. Besides eatables, everything necessary for a student was there sold, and articles used in the play-grounds, as bats, balls, &c.; and, in general, a petty trade with small profits was carried on in stationery and other matters, —in things innocent or suitable for the young customers, and in some things, perhaps, which were not. The Butler had a small salary, and was allowed the service of a Freshman in the Buttery, who was also employed to ring the college bell for prayers, lectures, and recitations, and take some oversight of the public rooms under the Butler's directions. The Buttery was also the office of record of the names of undergraduates, and of the rooms assigned to them in the college buildings; of the dates of temporary leave of absence given to individuals, and of their return; and of fines inflicted by the immediate government for negligence or minor offences. The office was dropped or abolished in the first year of the present century, I believe, long after it ceased to be of use for most of its primary purposes. The area before the entry doors of the Buttery had become a sort of students' exchange for idle gossip, if nothing worse. The rooms were now redeemed from traffic, and devoted to places of study, and other provision was made for the records which had there been kept. The last person who held the office of Butler was Joseph Chickering, a graduate of 1799."—Memories of Youth and Manhood, 1855, Vol. I. pp. 31, 32.
President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse pronounced before the Graduates of Yale College, August 14th, 1850, makes the following remarks on this subject: "The original 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 drinkables of not very stimulating qualities were sold, to remove the temptation of going abroad after spirituous liquors. Accordingly, laws were passed limiting the sum for which the Butler might give credit to a student, authorizing the President to inspect his books, and forbidding him to sell anything 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 restrained him by bringing his habits under inspection. There was nothing to prevent his going abroad in quest of stronger 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 remove 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 'punishment obscene,' as Cowper, the poet, very properly terms it, offlagellation, was enforced at our University, it appears that the Buttery was the scene of action. In The Poor Scholar, a comedy, written by Robert 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 correction, Sir; if you're for the Butteries with me, I'll lie as close as Diogenes in dolio. I'll creep in at the bunghole, before I'llmount a barrel,' &c. (Act 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 ascending 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 ofcrossing the name in the butteryis 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 residence; 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 degree.' Supposing, for example, twenty-one days' residence is 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 buttery, therefore, is a punishment which suspends our collegiate existence while the cross remains, besides putting an embargo 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 andCambridge; but in the latter the phraseto be put out of commonsis used instead of the one given above, yet with the same meaning.SeeGradus ad Cantabrigiam, 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 beput in or out of Commons, but on Tuesdays or Fridays, and no Bachelor or Undergraduate, 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 Commonsagain, by note, after the manner above directed. 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 appetiteAnd hunger undissembled, to repairTo friendlyButtery; there on smoking CrustAnd foaming Ale to banquet unrestrained,Material breakfast!The Student, 1750, Vol. I. p. 107.
BUTTERY-BOOK. In colleges, a book kept at thebuttery, 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, together with a register of the names of all the members of the college.
My name in sure recording pageShall time itself o'erpower,If no rude mice with envious rageThebuttery-booksdevour.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 abuttery-bar.—Halliwell's 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 thebuttery-hatchwithout 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 thehatch.—Earle's 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 thebuttery-bar, and let it drink.—Twelfth Night, Act I. Sc. 3.
BYE-FELLOW. In England, a name given in certain cases to a fellow in an inferior college. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a bye-fellow can be elected to one of the regular fellowships when a vacancy occurs.
BYE-FELLOWSHIP. An inferior establishment in a college for the nominal maintenance of what is called abye-fellow, or a fellow out of the regular course.
The emoluments of the fellowships vary from a merely nominal income, in the case of what are calledBye-fellowships, to $2,000 per annum.—Literary World, Vol. XII. p. 285.
BYE-FOUNDATION. In the English universities, a foundation from which an insignificant income and an inferior maintenance are derived.
BYE-TERM. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., students who take the degree of B.A. at any other time save January, are said to "go out in a bye-term."
Bristed uses this word, as follows: "I had a double disqualification exclusive of illness. First, as a Fellow Commoner…. Secondly, as abye-term man, or one between two years. Although I had entered into residence at the same time with those men who were to go out in 1844, my name had not been placed on the College Books, like theirs, previously to the commencement of 1840. I had therefore lost a term, and for most purposes was considered a Freshman, though I had been in residence as long as any of the Junior Sophs. In fact, I wasbetween two years."—Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, pp. 97, 98.
CAD. A low fellow, nearly equivalent tosnob. Used among students in the University of Cambridge, Eng.—Bristed.
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.
CALENDAR. At the English universities the information which in American colleges is published in a catalogue, is contained in a similar but far more comprehensive work, called acalendar. Conversation based on the topics of which such a volume treats is in some localities denominatedcalendar.
"Shop," or, as it is sometimes here called, "Calendar," necessarily enters to a large extent into the conversation of the Cantabs.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 82.
I would lounge about into the rooms of those whom I knew for general literary conversation,—even to talkCalendarif there was nothing else to do.—Ibid., p. 120.
CALVIN'S FOLLY. At the University of Vermont, "this name," writes a correspondent, "is given to a door, four inches thick and closely studded with spike-nails, dividing the chapel hall from the staircase leading to the belfry. It is calledCalvin's Folly, because it was planned by a professor of that (Christian) name, in order to keep the students out of the belfry, which dignified scheme it has utterly failed to accomplish. It is one of the celebrities of the Old Brick Mill,[04] and strangers always see it and hear its history."
CAMEL. In Germany, a student on entering the university becomes aKameel,—a camel.
CAMPUS. At the College of New Jersey, the college yard is denominated theCampus.Back Campus, the privies.
CANTAB. Abridged for CANTABRIGIAN.
It was transmitted to me by a respectableCantabfor insertion. —Hone's Every-day Book, Vol. I. p. 697.
Should all this be a mystery to our uncollegiate friends, or even to many matriculatedCantabs, 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.
CANTABRIGICALLY. According to Cambridge.
To speakCantabrigically.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 28.
CAP. The cap worn by students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., is described by Bristed in the following passage: "You must superadd the academical costume. This consists of a gown, varying in color and ornament according to the wearer's college and rank, but generally black, not unlike an ordinary clerical gown, and a square-topped cap, which fits close to the head like a truncated helmet, while the covered board which forms the crown measures about a foot diagonally across."—Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 4.
A similar cap is worn at Oxford and at some American colleges on particular occasions.
See OXFORD.
CAP. To uncover the head in reverence or civility.
The youth, ignorant who they were, had omitted tocapthem.—Gent. Mag., Vol. XXIV. p. 567.
I could not help smiling, when, among the dignitaries whom I was bound to make obeisance to bycappingwhenever I met them, Mr. Jackson's catalogue included his all-important self in the number. —The Etonian, Vol. II. p. 217.
The obsequious attention of college servants, and the more unwilling "capping" of the undergraduates, to such a man are real luxuries.—Blackwood's Mag., Eng. ed., Vol. LVI. p. 572.
Used in the English universities.
CAPTAIN OF THE POLL. The first of the Polloi.
He had moreover beenCaptain(Head)of the Poll.—Bristed'sFive Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 96.
CAPUT SENATUS. Latin; literally,the head of the Senate. In Cambridge, Eng., a council of the University by which every grace must be approved, before it can be submitted to the senate. The Caput Senatus is formed of the vice-chancellor, a doctor in each of the faculties of divinity, law, and medicine, and one regent M.A., and one non-regent M.A. The vice-chancellor's five assistants are elected annually by the heads of houses and the doctors of the three faculties, out of fifteen persons nominated by the vice-chancellor and the proctors.—Webster. Cam. Cal. Lit. World, Vol. XII. p. 283.
See GRACE.
CARCER. Latin. In German schools and universities, a prison.—Adler's Germ, and Eng. Dict.
Wollten ihn drauf die Nürnberger HerrenMir nichts, dir nichts insCarcersperren.Wallenstein's Lager.
And their Nur'mberg worships swore he should goTojailfor his pains,—if he liked it, or no.Trans. Wallenstein's Camp, in Bohn's Stand. Lib., p. 155.
CASTLE END. At Cambridge, Eng., a noted resort for Cyprians.
CATHARINE PURITANS. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the members of St. Catharine's Hall are thus designated, from the implied derivation of the word Catharine from the Greek [Greek: katharos], pure.
CAUTION MONEY. In the English universities, a deposit in the hands of the tutor at entrance, by way of security.
With reference to Oxford, De Quincey says ofcaution money: "This is a small sum, properly enough demanded of every student, when matriculated, as a pledge for meeting any loss from unsettled arrears, such as his sudden death or his unannounced departure might else continually be inflicting upon his college. In most colleges it amounts to £25; in one only it was considerably less." —Life and Manners, p. 249.
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.
CENSOR. In the University of Oxford, Eng., a college officer whose duties are similar to those of the Dean.
CEREVIS. From Latincerevisia, beer. Among German students, a small, round, embroidered cap, otherwise called a beer-cap.
Better authorities … have lately noted in the solitary student that wends his way—cerevison head, note-book in hand—to the professor's class-room,… a vast improvement on theBurscheof twenty years ago.—Lond. Quart. Rev., Am. ed., Vol. LXXIII. p. 59.
CHAMBER. The apartment of a student at a college or university. This word, although formerly used in American colleges, has been of late almost entirely supplanted by the wordroom, and it is for this reason that it is here noticed.
If any of them choose to provide themselves with breakfasts in their ownchambers, they are allowed so to do, but not to breakfast in one another'schambers.—Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ., Vol. II. p. 116.
Some ringleaders gave up theirchambers.—Ibid., Vol. II. 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; sometimesroom-mateis 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 hischamber-mate.—Laws Harv. Coll., 1798, p. 35.
CHANCELLOR. The chancellor of a university is an officer 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. The office is biennial, or tenable for such a length of time beyond two years as the tacit consent of the University may choose to allow.—Webster. Cam. Guide.
"The Chancellor," says the Oxford Guide, "is elected by convocation, and his office is for life; but he never, according to usage, is allowed to set foot in this University, excepting on the occasion of his installation, or when he is called upon to accompany any royal visitors."—Ed. 1847, p. xi.
At Cambridge, the office of Chancellor is, except on rare occasions, purely honorary, and the Chancellor himself seldom appears at Cambridge. He is elected by the Senate.
2. At Trinity College, Hartford, theChancelloris the Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, and is also the Visitor of the College. He isex officiothe President of the Corporation.—Calendar Trin. Coll., 1850, pp. 6, 7.
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 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. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the attendance at daily religious services in the chapel of each college at morning and evening is thus denominated.
Some time ago, upon an endeavor to compel the students of one college to increase their number of "chapels," as the attendance is called, there was a violent outcry, and several squibs were written by various hands.—Westminster Rev., Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 235.
It is rather surprising that there should be so much shirking ofchapel, when the very moderate amount of attendance required is considered.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 16.
Tokeep chapel, is to be present at the daily religious services of college.