ROOM. To occupy an apartment; to lodge;an academic use of the word.—Webster.
Inquire of any student at our colleges where Mr. B. lodges, and you will be told heroomsin such a building, such a story, or up so many flights of stairs, No. —, to the right or left.
The Rowes, years ago, used toroomin Dartmouth Hall.—TheDartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117.
Roomingin college, it is convenient that they should have the more immediate oversight of the deportment of the students.—Scenes and Characters in College, p. 133.
Seven years ago, Iroomedin this room where we are now.—YaleLit. Mag., Vol. XII. p. 114.
When Christmas came again I came back to this room, but the man whoroomedhere was frightened and ran away.—Ibid., Vol. XII. p. 114.
Rent for these apartments is exacted from Sophomores, about sixtyroomingout of college.—Burlesque Catalogue, Yale Coll., 1852-53, p. 26.
ROOT. A word first used in the sense given below by Dr. Paley. "He [Paley] held, indeed, all those little arts of underhand address, by which patronage and preferment are so frequently pursued, in supreme contempt. He was not of a nature toroot; for that was his own expressive term, afterwards much used in the University to denote the sort of practice alluded to. He one day humorously proposed, at some social meeting, that a certain contemporary Fellow of his College [Christ's College, Cambridge, Eng.], at that time distinguished for his elegant and engaging manners, and who has since attained no small eminence in the Church of England, should be appointedProfessor of Rooting."—Memoirs of Paley.
2. To study hard; to DIG, q.v.
Ill-favored men, eager for his old boots and diseased raiment, torment him whilerootingat his Greek.—Harv. Mag., Vol. I. p. 267.
ROT. Twaddle, platitude. In use among the students at theUniversity of Cambridge, Eng.—Bristed.
ROWES. The name of a party which formerly existed at Dartmouth College. They are thus described in The Dartmouth, Vol. IV. p. 117: "TheRowesare very liberal in their notions. The Rowes don't pretend to say anything worse of a fellow than to call him aBlue, andvice versâ."
See BLUES.
ROWING. The making of loud and noisy disturbance; acting like arowdy.
Flushed with the juice of the grape,all prime and ready forrowing.When from the ground I raisedthe fragments of ponderous brickbat.Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 98.
The Fellow-Commoners generally being more disposed torowingthan reading.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d. p. 34.
ROWING-MAN. One who is more inclined to fast living than hard study. Among English students used in contradistinction to READING-MAN, q.v.
When they go out to sup, as a reading-man does perhaps once a term, and arowing-mantwice a week, they eat very moderately, though their potations are sometimes of the deepest.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 21.
ROWL, ROWEL. At Princeton, Union, and Hamilton Colleges, this word is used to signify a good recitation. Used in the phrase, "to make arowl." From the second of these colleges, a correspondent writes: "Also of the wordrowl; if a public speaker presents a telling appeal or passage, he wouldmake a perfect rowl, in the language of all students at least."
ROWL. To recite well. A correspondent from Princeton College defines this word, "to perform any exercise well, recitation, speech, or composition; to succeed in any branch or pursuit."
RUSH. At Yale College, a perfect recitation is denominated arush.
I got my lesson perfectly, and what is more, made a perfectrush.—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XIII. p. 134.
Everyrushand fizzle madeEvery body frigid laid.Ibid., Vol. XX. p. 186.
This mark [that of a hammer with a note, "hit the nail on the head"] signifies that the student makes a capital hit; in other words, a decidedrush.—Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846.
In dreams his manyrushesheard.Ibid., Oct. 22, 1847.
This word is much used among students with the common meaning; thus, they speak of "arushinto prayers," "arushinto the recitation-room," &c. A correspondent from Dartmouth College says: "Rushingthe Freshmen is putting them out of the chapel." Another from Williams writes: "Such a man is making arush, and to this we often add—for the Valedictory."
The gay regatta where the Oneida led,The gloriousrushes, Seniors at the head.Class Poem, Harv. Coll., 1849.
One of the Trinity men … was making a tremendousrushfor a Fellowship.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 158.
RUSH. To recite well; to make a perfect recitation.
It was purchased by the man,—who 'really did not look' at the lesson on which he 'rushed.'—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XIV. p. 411.
Then for the students mark flunks, even though the young men may berushing.—Yale Banger, Oct., 1848.
So they pulled off their coats, and rolled up their sleeves,Andrushedin Bien. Examination.Presentation Day Songs, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.
RUSTICATE. To send a student for a time from a college or university, to reside in the country, by way of punishment for some offence.
See a more complete definition under RUSTICATION.
And those whose crimes are very great,Let us suspend orrusticate.—Rebelliad, p. 24.
The "scope" of what I have to stateIs to suspend andrusticate.—Ibid., p. 28.
The same meaning is thus paraphrastically conveyed:—
By my official power, I swear,That you shallsmell the country air.—Rebelliad, p. 45.
RUSTICATION. In universities and colleges, the punishment of a student for some offence, by compelling him to leave the institution, and reside for a time in the country, where he is obliged to pursue with a private instructor the studies with which his class are engaged during his term of separation, and in which he is obliged to pass a satisfactory examination before he can be reinstated in his class.
It seems plain from his own verses to Diodati, that Milton had incurredrustication,—a temporary dismission into the country, with, perhaps, the loss of a term.—Johnson.
Take then this friendly exhortation.The next offence isRustication.MS. Poem, by John Q. Adams.
RUST-RINGING. At Hamilton College, "the Freshmen," writes a correspondent, "are supposed to lose some of their verdancy at the end of the last term of that year, and the 'ringing off their rust' consists in ringing the chapel bell—commencing at midnight —until the rope wears out. During the ringing, the upper classes are diverted by the display of numerous fire-works, and enlivened by most beautifully discordant sounds, called 'music,' made to issue from tin kettle-drums, horse-fiddles, trumpets, horns, &c., &c."
SACK. To expel. Used at Hamilton College.
SAIL. At Bowdoin College, asailis a perfect recitation. Tosailis to recite perfectly.
SAINT. A name among students for one who pretends to particular sanctity of manners.
Or if he had been a hard-reading man from choice,—or a stupid man,—or a "saint,"—no one would have troubled themselves about him.—Blackwood's Mag., Eng. ed., Vol. LX. p. 148.
SALTING THE FRESHMEN. In reference to this custom, which belongs to Dartmouth College, a correspondent from that institution writes: "There is an annual trick of 'salting the Freshmen,' which is putting salt and water on their seats, so that their clothes are injured when they sit down." The idea of preservation, cleanliness, and health is no doubt intended to be conveyed by the use of the wholesome articles salt and water.
SALUTATORIAN. The student of a college who pronounces the salutatory oration at the annual Commencement.—Webster.
SALUTATORY. An epithet applied to the oration which introduces the exercises of the Commencements in American colleges.—Webster.
The oration is often called, simply,The Salutatory.
And we ask our friends "out in the world," whenever they meet aneducated man of the class of '49, not to ask if he had theValedictory orSalutatory, but if he takes theIndicator.—Amherst Indicator, Vol. II. p. 96.
SATIS. Latin; literally,enough. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the lowest honor in the schools. The manner in which this word is used is explained in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, as follows: "Satis disputasti; which is at much as to say, in the colloquial style, 'Bad enough.'Satis et bene disputasti, 'Pretty fair,—tolerable.'Satis et optime disputasti, 'Go thy ways, thou flower and quintessence of Wranglers.' Such are the compliments to be expected from the Moderator, after theact is kept."—p. 95.
S.B. An abbreviation forScientiæ Baccalaureus, Bachelor in Science. At Harvard College, this degree is conferred on those who have pursued a prescribed course of study for at least one year in the Scientific School, and at the end of that period passed a satisfactory examination. The different degrees of excellence are expressed in the diploma by the words,cum laude,cum magna laude,cum summa laude.
SCARLET DAY. In the Church of England, certain festival days are styledscarlet days. On these occasions, the doctors in the three learned professions appear in their scarlet robes, and the noblemen residing in the universities wear their full dresses.—Grad. ad Cantab.
SCHEME. The printed papers which are given to the students at Yale College at the Biennial Examination, and which contain the questions that are to be answered, are denominatedschemes. They are also called, simply,papers.
See the down-cast air, and the blank despair,That sits on each Soph'more feature,As his bleared eyes gleam o'er that horridscheme!Songs of Yale, 1853, p. 22.
Olmsted served an apprenticeship setting up types,For theschemesof Bien. Examination.Presentation Day Songs, June 14, 1854.
Here's health to the tutors who gave us goodschemes,Vive la compagnie!Songs, Biennial Jubilee, 1855.
SCHOLAR. Any member of a college, academy, or school.
2. An undergraduate in English universities, who belongs to the foundation of a college, and receives support in part from its revenues.—Webster.
SCHOLAR OF THE HOUSE. At Yale College, those are calledScholars of the Housewho, by superiority in scholarship, become entitled to receive the income arising from certain foundations established for the purpose of promoting learning and literature. In some cases the recipient is required to remain at New Haven for a specified time, and pursue a course of studies under the direction of the Faculty of the College.—Sketches of Yale Coll., p. 86.Laws of Yale Coll.
2. "Thescholar of the house," says President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse,—"scholaris ædilitusof the Latin laws,—before the institution of Berkeley's scholarships which had the same title, was a kind of ædile appointed by the President and Tutors to inspect the public buildings, and answered in a degree to the Inspector known to our present laws and practice. He was not to leave town until the Friday after Commencement, because in that week more than usual damage was done to the buildings."—p. 43.
The duties of this officer are enumerated in the annexed passage. "The Scholar of the House, appointed by the President, shall diligently observe and set down the glass broken in College windows, and every other damage done in College, together with the time when, and the person by whom, it was done; and every quarter he shall make up a bill of such damages, charged against every scholar according to the laws of College, and deliver the same to the President or the Steward, and the Scholar of the House shall tarry at College until Friday noon after the public Commencement, and in that time shall be obliged to view any damage done in any chamber upon the information of him to whom the chamber is assigned."—Laws of Yale Coll., 1774, p. 22.
SCHOLARSHIP. Exhibition or maintenance for a scholar; foundation for the support of a student—Ainsworth.
SCHOOL. THE SCHOOLS,pl.; the seminaries for teaching logic, metaphysics, and theology, which were formed in the Middle Ages, and which were characterized by academical disputations and subtilties of reasoning; or the learned men who were engaged in discussing nice points in metaphysics or theology.—Webster.
2. In some American colleges, the different departments for teaching law, medicine, divinity, &c. are denominatedschools.
3. The name given at the University of Oxford to the place of examination. The principal exercises consist of disputations in philosophy, divinity, and law, and are always conducted in a sort of barbarous Latin.
I attended theSchoolsseveral times, with the view of acquiring the tact and self-possession so requisite in these public contests.—Alma Mater, Vol. II. p. 39.
There were only two sets of men there, one who fagged unremittingly for theSchools, and another devoted to frivolity and dissipation.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 141.
S.C.L. At the English universities, one who is pursuing law studies and has not yet received the degree of B.C.L. or D.C.L., is designated S.C.L.,Studentin or ofCivil Law.
At the University of Cambridge, Eng., persons in this rank who have kept their acts wear a full-sleeved gown, and are entitled to use a B.A. hood.
SCONCE. To mulct; to fine. Used at the University of Oxford.
A young fellow of Baliol College, having, upon some discontent cut his throat very dangerously, the Master of the College sent his servitor to the buttery-book tosconce(i.e. fine) him 5s.; and, says the Doctor, tell him the next time he cuts his throat I'llsconcehim ten.—Terræ-Filius, No. 39.
Wassconcedin a quart of ale for quoting Latin, a passage fromJuvenal; murmured, and the fine was doubled.—The Etonian, Vol.II. p. 391.
SCOUT. A cant term at Oxford for a college servant or waiter.—Oxford Guide.
Myscout, indeed, is a very learned fellow, and has an excellent knack at using hard words. One morning he told me the gentleman in the next roomcontagiousto mine desired to speak to me. I once overheard him give a fellow-servant very sober advice not to go astray, but be true to his own wife; foridolatrywould surely bring a man toinstructionat last.—The Student, Oxf. and Cam., 1750, Vol. I. p. 55.
An anteroom, or vestibule, which serves the purpose of ascout'spantry.—The Etonian, Vol. II. p. 280.
Scoutsare usually pretty communicative of all they know.—Blackwood's Mag., Eng. ed., Vol. LX. p. 147.
Sometimes used in American colleges.
In order to quiet him, we had to send for his factotum orscout, an old black fellow.—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XI. p. 282.
SCRAPE. To insult by drawing the feet over the floor.—Grose.
But in a manner quite uncivil,They hissed andscrapedhim like the devil.Rebelliad, p. 37.
"I do insist,"Quoth he, "that two, whoscrapedand hissed,Shall be condemned without a juryTo pass the winter monthsin rure."—Ibid., p. 41.
They not unfrequently rose to open outrage or some personal molestation, as casting missiles through his windows at night, or "scraping him" by day.—A Tour through College, Boston, 1832, p. 25.
SCRAPING. A drawing of, or the act of drawing, the feet over the floor, as an insult to some one, or merely to cause disturbance; a shuffling of the feet.
New lustre was added to the dignity of their feelings by the pathetic and impressive manner in which they expressed them, which was by stamping andscrapingmajestically with their feet, when in the presence of the detested tutors.—Don Quixotes at College, 1807.
The morning and evening daily prayers were, on the next day (Thursday), interrupted byscraping, whistling, groaning, and other disgraceful noises.—Circular, Harvard College, 1834, p. 9.
This word is used in the universities and colleges of both England and America.
SCREW. In some American colleges, an excessive, unnecessarily minute, and annoying examination of a student by an instructor is called ascrew. The instructor is often designated by the same name.
Haunted by day with fearfulscrew.Harvard Lyceum, p. 102.
Screws, duns, and other such like evils.Rebelliad, p. 77.
One must experience all the stammering and stuttering, the unending doubtings and guessings, to understand fully the power of a mathematicalscrew.—Harv. Reg., p. 378.
The consequence was, a patient submission to thescrew, and a loss of college honors and patronage.—A Tour through College, Boston, 1832, p. 26.
I'll tell him a whopper next time, and astonish him so that he'll forget hisscrews.—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XI. p. 336.
What a darnedscrewour tutor is.—Ibid.
Apprehension of the severity of the examination, or what in after times, by an academic figure of speech, was called screwing, or ascrew, was what excited the chief dread.—Willard's Memories of Youth and Manhood, Vol. I. p. 256.
Passing such an examination is often denominatedtaking a screw.
And sad it is totake a screw.Harv. Reg., p. 287.
2. At Bowdoin College, an imperfect recitation is called ascrew.
You never should look blue, sir,If you chance to take a "screw," sir,To us it's nothing new, sir,To drive dull care away.The Bowdoin Creed.
We've felt the cruel, torturingscrew,And oft its driver's ire.Song, Sophomore Supper, Bowdoin Coll., 1850.
SCREW. To press with an excessive and unnecessarily minute examination.
Who would let a tutor knave_Screw _him like a Guinea slave!Rebelliad, p. 53.
Have I beenscrewed, yea, deaded morn and eve,Some dozen moons of this collegiate life?Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 255.
O, I do well remember when in college,How we fought reason,—battles all in play,—Under a most portentous man of knowledge,The captain-general in the bloodless fray;He was a wise man, and a good man, too,And robed himself in green whene'er he came toscrew.Our Chronicle of '26, Boston, 1827.
In a note to the last quotation, the author says of the wordscrew: "For the information of the inexperienced, we explain this as a term quite rife in the universities, and, taken substantively, signifying an intellectual nonplus."
At last the day is ended, The tutorscrewsno more.Knick. Mag., Vol. XLV. p. 195.
SCREWING UP. The meaning of this phrase, as understood by English Cantabs, may be gathered from the following extract. "A magnificent sofa will be lying close to a door … bored through from top to bottom from thescrewing upof some former unpopular tenant; "screwing up" being the process of fastening on the outside, with nails and screws, every door of the hapless wight's apartments. This is done at night, and in the morning the gentleman is leaning three-fourths out of his window, bawling for rescue."—Westminster Rev., Am. Ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 239.
SCRIBBLING-PAPER. A kind of writing-paper, rather inferior in quality, a trifle larger than foolscap, and used at the English universities by mathematicians and in the lecture-room.—Bristed. Grad. ad Cantab.
Cards are commonly sold at Cambridge as "scribbling-paper."—Westminster Rev., Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 238.
The summer apartment contained only a big standing-desk, the eternal "scribbling-paper," and the half-dozen mathematical works required.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 218.
SCROUGE. An exaction. A very long lesson, or any hard or unpleasant task, is usually among students denominated ascrouge.
SCROUGE. To exact; to extort; said of an instructor who imposes difficult tasks on his pupils.
It is used provincially in England, and in America in some of the Northern and Southern States, with the meaningto crowd, to squeeze.—Bartlett's Dict. of Americanisms.
SCRUB. At Columbia College, a servant.
2. One who is disliked for his meanness, ill-breeding, or vulgarity. Nearly equivalent to SPOON, q.v.
SCRUBBY. Possessing the qualities of a scrub. Partially synonymous with the adjective SPOONY, q.v.
SCRUTATOR. In the University of Cambridge, England, an officer whose duty it is to attend allCongregations, to read thegracesto the lower house of the Senate, to gather the votes secretly, or to take them openly in scrutiny, and publicly to pronounce the assent or dissent of that house.—Cam. Cal.
SECOND-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the title ofSecond-Year Men, orJunior SophsorSophisters, is given to students during the second year of their residence at the University.
At one of our "section courts," which those who expected to enter upon the study of the law used to hold, &c.—The Parthenon, Union Coll., 1851, p. 19.
SEED. In Yale College this word is used to designate what is understood by the common cant terms, "a youth"; "case"; "bird"; "b'hoy"; "one of 'em."
While tutors, every sport defeating,And under feet-worn stairs secreting,And each dark lane and alley beating,Hunt up theseedsin vain retreating.Yale Banger, Nov. 1849.
The wretch had dared to flunk a goryseed!Ibid., Nov. 1849.
One tells his jokes, the other tells his beads,One talks of saints, the other sings ofseeds.Ibid., Nov. 1849.
But we are "seeds," whose rowdy deedsMake up the drunken tale.Yale Tomahawk, Nov. 1849.
First Greek he enters; and with reckless speedHe drags o'er stumps and roots each haplessseed.Ibid., Nov. 1849.
Each one a boldseed, well fit for the deed,But of course a little bit flurried.Ibid., May, 1852.
SEEDY. At Yale College, rowdy, riotous, turbulent.
And snowballs, falling thick and fast As oaths fromseedySenior crowd.Yale Gallinipper, Nov. 1848.
AseedySoph beneath a tree.Yale Gallinipper, Nov. 1848.
2. Among English Cantabs, not well, out of sorts, done up; the sort of feeling that a reading man has after an examination, or a rowing man after a dinner with the Beefsteak Club. Also, silly, easy to perform.—Bristed.
The owner of the apartment attired in a very old dressing-gown and slippers, half buried in an arm-chair, and looking what some young ladies call interesting, i.e. pale andseedy.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 151.
You will seldom find anything veryseedyset forIambics.—Ibid., p. 182.
SELL. An unexpected reply; a deception or trick.
In the Literary World, March 15, 1851, is the following explanation of this word: "Mr. Phillips's first introduction to Curran was made the occasion of a mystification, or practical joke, in which Irish wits have excelled since the time of Dean Swift, who was wont (videhis letters to Stella) to call these jocose tricks 'asell,' from selling a bargain." The wordbargain, however, which Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines "an unexpected reply tending to obscenity," was formerly used more generally among the English wits. The nounsellhas of late been revived in this country, and is used to a certain extent in New York and Boston, and especially among the students at Cambridge.
I sought some hope to borrow, by thinking it a "sell"By fancying it a fiction, my anguish to dispel.Poem before the Iadma of Harv. Coll., 1850, p. 8.
SELL. To give an unexpected answer; to deceive; to cheat.
For the love you bear me, never tell how badly I wassold.—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. XX. p. 94.
The use of this verb is much more common in the United States than that of the noun of the same spelling, which is derived from it; for instance, we frequently read in the newspapers that the Whigs or Democrats have beensold, i.e. defeated in an election, or cheated in some political affair. The phraseto sell a bargain, which Bailey defines "to put a sham upon one," is now scarcely ever heard. It was once a favorite expression with certain English writers.
Wheresold he bargains, Whipstitch?—Dryden.
No maid at court is less ashamed,Howe'er forselling bargainsfamed.—Swift.
Dr. Sheridan, famous for punning, intendingto sell a bargain, said, he had made a very good pun.—Swift, Bons Mots de Stella.
SEMESTER. Latin,semestris,sex, six, andmensis, month. In the German universities, a period or term of six months. The course of instruction occupies sixsemesters. Class distinctions depend upon the number ofsemesters, not of years. During the firstsemester, the student is calledFox, in the secondBurnt Fox, and then, successively,Young Bursch,Old Bursch,Old House, andMoss-covered Head.
SENATE. In the University of Cambridge, England, the legislative body of the University. It is divided into two houses, called REGENT and NON-REGENT. The former consists of the vice-chancellor, proctors, taxors, moderators, and esquire-beadles, all masters of arts of less than five years' standing, and all doctors of divinity, civil law, and physic, of less than two, and is called the UPPER HOUSE, or WHITE-HOOD HOUSE, from its members wearing hoods lined with white silk. The latter is composed of masters of arts of five years' standing, bachelors of divinity, and doctors in the three faculties of two years' standing, and is known as the LOWER HOUSE, or BLACK-HOOD HOUSE, its members wearing black silk hoods. To have a vote in the Senate, the graduate must keep his name on the books of some college (which involves a small annual payment), or in the list of thecommorantes in villâ.—Webster. Cam. Cal. Lit. World, Vol. XII. p. 283.
2. At Union College, the members of the Senior Class form what is called the Senate, a body organized after the manner of the Senate of the United States, for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the forms and practice of legislation. The members of the Junior Class compose the House of Representatives. The following account, showing in what manner the Senate is conducted, has been furnished by a member of Union College.
"On the last Friday of the third term, the House of Representatives meet in their hall, and await their initiation to the Upper House. There soon appears a committee of three, who inform them by their chairman of the readiness of the Senate to receive them, and perhaps enlarge upon the importance of the coming trust, and the ability of the House to fill it.
"When this has been done, the House, headed by the committee, proceed to the Senate Chamber (Senior Chapel), and are arranged by the committee around the President, the Senators (Seniors) meanwhile having taken the second floor. The President of the Senate then rises and delivers an appropriate address, informing them of their new dignities and the grave responsibilities of their station. At the conclusion of this they take their seats, and proceed to the election of officers, viz. a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The President must be a member of the Faculty, and is chosen for a term; the other officers are selected from the House, and continue in office but half a term. The first Vice-Presidency of the Senate is considered one of the highest honors conferred by the class, and great is the strife to obtain it.
"The Senate meet again on the second Friday of the next term, when they receive the inaugural message of the President. He then divides them into seven districts, each district including the students residing in a Section, or Hall of College, except the seventh, which is filled by the students lodging in town. The Senate is also divided into a number of standing committees, as Law, Ethics, Political Economy. Business is referred to these committees, and reported on by them in the usual manner. The time of the Senate is principally occupied with the discussion of resolutions, in committee of the whole; and these discussions take the place of the usual Friday afternoon recitation. At Commencement the Senate have an orator of their own election, who must, however, have been a past or honorary member of their body. They also have a committee on the 'Commencement Card.'"
On the same subject, another correspondent writes as follows:—
"The Senate is composed of the Senior Class, and is intended as a school of parliamentary usages. The officers are a President, Vice-President, and Secretary, who are chosen once a term. At the close of the second term, the Junior Class are admitted into the Senate. They are introduced by a committee of Senators, and are expected to remain standing and uncovered during the ceremony, the President and Senators being seated and covered. After a short address by the President, the old Senators leave the house, and the Juniors proceed to elect their officers for the third term. Dr. Thomas C. Reed who was the founder of the Senate, was always elected President during his connection with the College, but rarely took his place in the chamber except at the introduction of the Juniors. The Vice-President for the third term, who takes a part in the ceremonies of commencement, is considered to hold the highest honor of the class, and his election is attended with more excitement than any other in the College."
See COMMENCEMENT CARD; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SENATE-HOUSE. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the building in which the public business of the University, such as examinations, the passing of graces, and admission to degrees, is carried on.—Cam. Guide.
SENATUS ACADEMICUS. At Trinity College, Hartford, theSenatus Academicusconsists of two houses, known as the CORPORATION and the HOUSE OF CONVOCATION, q.v.—Calendar Trin. Coll., 1850, p. 6.
SENE. An abbreviation for Senior.
Magnificent Juns, and lazySenes.Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846.
A rare young blade is the gallantSene.Ibid., Nov. 1850.
SENIOR. One in the fourth year of his collegiate course at an American college; originally calledSenior Sophister. Also one in the third year of his course at a theological seminary.—Webster.
See SOPHISTER.
SENIOR. Noting the fourth year of the collegiate course in American colleges, or the third year in theological seminaries.—Webster.
SENIOR BACHELOR. One who is in his third year after taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is further explained by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse: "Bachelors were called Senior, Middle, or Junior Bachelors, according to the year since graduation and before taking the degree of Master."—p. 122.
SENIOR CLASSIC. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the student who passes best in the voluntary examination in classics, which follows the last required examination in the Senate-House.
No one stands a chance forSenior Classicalongside of him.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 55.
Two men who had been rivals all the way through school and through college were racing forSenior Classic.—Ibid., p. 253.
SENIOR FELLOW. At Trinity College, Hartford, the Senior Fellow is a person chosen to attend the college examinations during the year.
SENIOR FRESHMAN. The name of the second of the four classes into which undergraduates are divided at Trinity College, Dublin.
SENIORITY. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the eight Senior Fellows and the Master of a college compose what is called theSeniority. Their decisions in all matters are generally conclusive.
My duty now obliges me, however reluctantly, to bring you before theSeniority.—Alma Mater, Vol. I. p. 75.
SENIOR OPTIME. Those who occupy the second rank in honors at the close of the final examination at the University of Cambridge, Eng., are denominatedSenior Optimes.
The Second Class, or that ofSenior Optimes, is larger in number [than that of the Wranglers], usually exceeding forty, and sometimes reaching above sixty. This class contains a number of disappointments, many who expect to be Wranglers, and some who are generally expected to be.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 228.
The word is frequently abbreviated.
The Pembroker … had the pleasant prospect of getting up all his mathematics for a place among theSenior Ops.—Ibid., p. 158.
He would get just questions enough to make him a lowSenior Op.—Ibid., p. 222.
SENIOR ORATION. "The custom of deliveringSenior Orations," says a correspondent, "is, I think, confined to Washington and Jefferson Colleges in Pennsylvania. Each member of the Senior Class, taking them in alphabetical order, is required to deliver an oration before graduating, and on such nights as the Faculty may decide. The public are invited to attend, and the speaking is continued at appointed times, until each member of the Class has spoken."
SENIOR SOPHISTER. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student in the third year of his residence is called a Senior Soph or Sophister.
2. In some American colleges, a member of the Senior Class, i.e. of the fourth year, was formerly designated a Senior Sophister.
See SOPHISTER.
SENIOR WRANGLER. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the SeniorWrangler is the student who passes the best examination in theSenate-House, and by consequence holds the first place on theMathematical Tripos.
The only road to classical honors and their accompanying emoluments in the University, and virtually in all the Colleges, except Trinity, is through mathematical honors, all candidates for the Classical Tripos being obliged as a preliminary to obtain a place in that mathematical list which is headed by theSenior Wranglerand tailed by the Wooden Spoon.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 34.
SEQUESTER. To cause to retire or withdraw into obscurity. In the following passage it is used in the collegiate sense ofsuspendorrusticate.
Though they were adulti, they were corrected in the College, andsequestered, &c. for a time.—Winthrop's Journal, by Savage, Vol. II. p. 88.
SERVITOR. In the University of Oxford, an undergraduate who is partly supported by the college funds.Servitorsformerly waited at table, but this is now dispensed with. The order similar to that of theservitorwas at Cambridge styled the order ofSub-sizars. This has been long extinct. Thesizarat Cambridge is at present nearly equivalent to the Oxfordservitor.—Gent. Mag., 1787, p. 1146.Brande.
"It ought to be known," observes De Quincey, "that the class of 'servitors,' once a large body in Oxford, have gradually become practically extinct under the growing liberality of the age. They carried in their academic dress a mark of their inferiority; they waited at dinner on those of higher rank, and performed other menial services, humiliating to themselves, and latterly felt as no less humiliating to the general name and interests of learning."—Life and Manners, p. 272.
A reference to the cruel custom of "hunting the servitor" is to be found in Sir John Hawkins's Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 12.
SESSION. At some of the Southern and Western colleges of the United States, the time during which instruction is regularly given to the students; a term.
Thesessioncommences on the 1st of October, and continues without interruption until the 29th of June.—Cat. of Univ. of Virginia, 1851, p. 15.
SEVENTY-EIGHTH PSALM. The recollections which cluster around this Psalm, so well known to all the Alumni of Harvard, are of the most pleasant nature. For more than a hundred years, it has been sung at the dinner given on Commencement day at Cambridge, and for more than a half-century to the tune of St. Martin's. Mr. Samuel Shapleigh, who graduated at Harvard College in the year 1789, and who was afterwards its Librarian, on the leaf of a hymn-book makes a memorandum in reference to this Psalm, to the effect that it has been sung at Cambridge on Commencement day "fromtime immemorial." The late Rev. Dr. John Pierce, a graduate of the class of 1793, referring to the same subject, remarks: "The Seventy-eighth Psalm, it is supposed, has,from the foundation of the College, been sung in the common version of the day." In a poem, entitled Education, delivered at Cambridge before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, by Mr. William Biglow, July 18th, 1799, speaking of the conduct and manners of the students, the author says:—
"Like pigs they eat, they drink an ocean dry,They steal like France, like Jacobins they lie,They raise the very Devil, when called to prayers,'To sons transmit the same, and they again to theirs'";
and, in explanation of the last line, adds this note: "Alluding to the Psalm which isalwayssung in Harvard Hall on Commencement day." In his account of some of the exercises attendant upon the Commencement at Harvard College in 1848, Professor Sidney Willard observes: "At the Commencement dinner the sitting is not of long duration; and we retired from table soon after the singing of the Psalm, which, with some variation in the version, has been sung on the same occasion from time immemorial."—Memoirs of Youth and Manhood, Vol. II. p. 65.
But that we cannot take these accounts as correct in their full extent, appears from an entry in the MS. Diary of Chief Justice Sewall relating to a Commencement in 1685, which he closes with these words: "After Dinner ye 3d part of ye 103d Ps. was sung in ye Hall."
In the year 1793, at the dinner on Commencement Day, the Rev. Joseph Willard, then President of the College, requested Mr. afterwards Dr. John Pierce, to set the tune to the Psalm; with which request having complied to the satisfaction of all present, he from that period until the time of his death, in 1849, performed this service, being absent only on one occasion. Those who have attended Commencement dinners during the latter part of this period cannot but associate with this hallowed Psalm the venerable appearance and the benevolent countenance of this excellent man.
In presenting a list of the different versions in which this Psalm has been sung, it must not be supposed that entire correctness has been reached; the very scanty accounts which remain render this almost impossible, but from these, which on a question of greater importance might be considered hardly sufficient, it would appear that the following are the versions in which the sons of Harvard have been accustomed to sing the Psalm of the son of Jesse.
1.—The New England Version.
"In 1639 there was an agreement amo. ye Magistrates and Ministers to set aside ye Psalms then printed at ye end of their Bibles, and sing one more congenial to their ideas of religion." Rev. Mr. Richard Mather of Dorchester, and Rev. Mr. Thomas Weld and Rev. Mr. John Eliot of Roxbury, were selected to make a metrical translation, to whom the Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge gives the following metrical caution:—
"Ye Roxbury poets, keep clear of ye crimeOf missing to give us very good rhyme,And you of Dorchester, your verses lengthen,But with the texts own words you will y'm strengthen."
The version of this ministerial trio was printed in the year 1640, at Cambridge, and has the honor of being the first production of the North American press that rises to the dignity ofa book. It was entitled, "The Psalms newly turned into Metre." A second edition was printed in 1647. "It was more to be commended, however," says Mr. Peirce, in his History of Harvard University, "for its fidelity to the text, than for the elegance of its versification, which, having been executed by persons of different tastes and talents, was not only very uncouth, but deficient in uniformity. President Dunster, who was an excellent Oriental scholar, and possessed the other requisite qualifications for the task, was employed to revise and polish it; and in two or three years, with the assistance of Mr. Richard Lyon, a young gentleman who was sent from England by Sir Henry Mildmay to attend his son, then a student in Harvard College, he produced a work, which, under the appellation of the 'Bay Psalm-Book,' was, for a long time, the received version in the New England congregations, was also used in many societies in England and Scotland, and passed through a great number of editions, both at home and abroad."—p. 14.
The Seventy-eighth Psalm is thus rendered in the first edition:—
Give listning eare unto my law,Yee people that are mine,Unto the sayings of my mouthDoe yee your eare incline.
My mouth I'le ope in parables,I'le speak hid things of old:Which we have heard, and knowne: and whichOur fathers have us told.
Them from their children wee'l not hide,To th' after age shewingThe Lords prayses; his strength, and worksOf his wondrous doing.
In Jacob he a witnesse set,And put in IsraellA law, which he our fathers charg'dThey should their children tell:
That th' age to come, and children whichAre to be borne might know;That they might rise up and the sameUnto their children show.
That they upon the mighty GodTheir confidence might set:And Gods works and his commandmentMight keep and not forget,
And might not like their fathers be,A stiffe, stout race; a raceThat set not right their hearts: nor firmeWith God their spirit was.
The Bay Psalm-Book underwent many changes in the various editions through which it passed, nor was this psalm left untouched, as will be seen by referring to the twenty-sixth edition, published in 1744, and to the edition of 1758, revised and corrected, with additions, by Mr. Thomas Prince.
2.—Watts's Version.
The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts were first published in this country by Dr. Franklin, in the year 1741. His version is as follows:—
Let children hear the mighty deedsWhich God performed of old;Which in our younger years we saw,And which our fathers told.
He bids us make his glories known,His works of power and grace,And we'll convey his wonders downThrough every rising race.
Our lips shall tell them to our sons,And they again to theirs,That generations yet unbornMay teach them to their heirs.
Thus shall they learn in God aloneTheir hope securely stands,That they may ne'er forget his works,But practise his commands;
3.—Brady and Tate's Version.
In the year 1803, the Seventy-eighth Psalm was first printed on a small sheet and placed under every plate, which practice has since been always adopted. The version of that year was from Brady and Tate's collection, first published in London in 1698, and in this country about the year 1739. It was sung to the tune of St. Martin's in 1805, as appears from a memorandum in ink on the back of one of the sheets for that year, which reads, "Sung in the hall, Commencement Day, tune St. Martin's, 1805." From the statements of graduates of the last century, it seems that this had been the customary tune for some time previous to this year, and it is still retained as a precious legacy of the past. St. Martin's was composed by William Tans'ur in the year 1735. The following is the version of Brady and Tate:—
Hear, O my people; to my lawDevout attention lend;Let the instruction of my mouthDeep in your hearts descend.
My tongue, by inspiration taught,Shall parables unfold,Dark oracles, but understood,And owned for truths of old;
Which we from sacred registersOf ancient times have known,And our forefathers' pious careTo us has handed down.
We will not hide them from our sons;Our offspring shall be taughtThe praises of the Lord, whose strengthHas works of wonders wrought.
For Jacob he this law ordained,This league with Israel made;With charge, to be from age to age,From race to race, conveyed,
That generations yet to comeShould to their unborn heirsReligiously transmit the same,And they again to theirs.
To teach them that in God aloneTheir hope securely stands;That they should ne'er his works forget,But keep his just commands.
4.—From Belknap's Collection.
This collection was first published by the Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap, at Boston, in 1795. The version of the Seventy-eighth Psalm is partly from that of Brady and Tate, and partly from Dr. Watts's, with a few slight variations. It succeeded the version of Brady and Tate about the year 1820, and is the one which is now used. The first three stanzas were written by Brady and Tate; the last three by Dr. Watts. It has of late been customary to omit the last stanza in singing and in printing.
Give ear, ye children;[62] to my lawDevout attention lend;Let the instructions[63] of my mouthDeep in your hearts descend.
My tongue, by inspiration taught,Shall parables unfold;Dark oracles, but understood,And owned for truths of old;
Which we from sacred registersOf ancient times have known,And our forefathers' pious careTo us has handed down.
Let children learn[64] the mighty deedsWhich God performed of old;Which, in our younger years we saw,And which our fathers told.
Our lips shall tell them to our sons,And they again to theirs;That generations yet unbornMay teach them to their heirs.
Thus shall they learn in God aloneTheir hope securely stands;That they may ne'er forget his works,But practise his commands.
It has been supposed by some that the version of the Seventy-eighth Psalm by Sternhold and Hopkins, whose spiritual songs were usually printed, as appears above, "at ye end of their Bibles," was the first which was sung at Commencement dinners; but this does not seem at all probable, since the first Commencement at Cambridge did not take place until 1642, at which time the "Bay Psalm-Book," written by three of the most popular ministers of the day, had already been published two years.
SHADY. Among students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., an epithet of depreciation, equivalent to MILD and SLOW.—Bristed.
Some … are rathershadyin Greek and Latin.—Bristed's FiveYears in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 147.
My performances on the Latin verse paper were veryshady.—Ibid., p. 191.
SHARK. In student language, an absence from a recitation, a lecture, or from prayers, prompted by recklessness rather than by necessity, is called ashark. He who is absent under these circumstances is also known as a shark.
The Monitors' task is now quite done,They 've pencilled all their marks,"Othello's occupation's gone,"—No more look out forsharks.Songs of Yale, 1853, p. 45.
SHEEPSKIN. The parchment diploma received by students on taking their degree at college. "In the back settlements are many clergymen who have not had the advantages of a liberal education, and who consequently have no diplomas. Some of these look upon their more favored brethren with a little envy. A clergyman is said to have asheepskin, or to be asheepskin, when educated at college."—Bartlett's Dict. of Americanisms.
This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor toted about nosheepskins,—no, never!… How you'd a perished in your sins, if the first preachers had stayed till they gotsheepskins.—Carlton's New Purchase.
I can say as well as the best on themsheepskins, if you don't get religion and be saved, you'll be lost, teetotally and for ever.—(Sermon of an Itinerant Preacher at a Camp Meeting.)—Ibid.
As for John Prescot, he not only lost the valedictory, but barely escaped with his "sheepskin."—Yale Lit. Mag., Vol. X. p. 74.
That handsome Senior … receives hissheepskinfrom the dispensing hand of our worthy Prex.—Ibid., Vol. XIX. p. 355.
When first I saw a "Sheepskin,"In Prex's hand I spied it.Yale Coll. Song.
We came to college fresh and green,—We go back home with a hugesheepskin.Songs of Yale, 1853, p. 43.
SHIN. To tease or hector a person by kicking his shins. In some colleges this is one of the means which the Sophomores adopt to torment the Freshmen, especially when playing at football, or other similar games.
We have beenshinned, smoked, ducked, and accelerated by the encouraging shouts of our generous friends.—Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846.
SHINE. At Harvard College this word was formerly used to designate a good recitation. Used in the phrase, "to make a shine."
SHINNY. At Princeton College, the game ofShinny, known also by the names ofHawkyandHurly, is as great a favorite with the students as is football at other colleges. "The players," says a correspondent, "are each furnished with a stick four or five feet in length and one and a half or two inches in diameter, curved at one end, the object of which is to give the ball a surer blow. The ball is about three inches in diameter, bound with thick leather. The players are divided into two parties, arranged along from one goal to the other. The ball is then 'bucked' by two players, one from each side, which is done by one of these two taking the ball and asking his opponent which he will have, 'high or low'; if he says 'high,' the ball is thrown up midway between them; if he says 'low,' the ball is thrown on the ground. The game is opened by a scuffle between these two for the ball. The other players then join in, one party knocking towards North College, which is one 'home' (as it is termed), and the other towards the fence bounding the south side of theCampus, the other home. Whichever party first gets the ball home wins the game. A grand contest takes place annually between the Juniors and Sophomores, in this game."
SHIP. Among collegians, one expelled from college is said to beshipped.
For I, you know, am but a college minion,But still, you'll all beshipped, in my opinion,When brought before Conventus Facultatis.Yale Tomahawk, May, 1852.
He may be overhauled, warned, admonished, dismissed,shipped, rusticated, sent off, suspended.—Burlesque Catalogue,Yale Coll., 1852-53, p. 25.
SHIPWRECK. Among students, a total failure.
His university course has been ashipwreck, and he will probably end by going out unnoticed among the [Greek:polloi].—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 56.
SHORT-EAR. At Jefferson College, Penn., a soubriquet for a roistering, noisy fellow; a rowdy. Opposed tolong-ear.
SHORT TERM. At Oxford, Eng., the extreme duration of residence in any college is under thirty weeks. "It is possible to keep 'short terms,' as the phrase is, by residence of thirteen weeks, or ninety-one days."—De Quincey's Life and Manners, p. 274.
SIDE. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the set of pupils belonging to any one particular tutor is called hisside.
A longer discourse he will perhaps have to listen to with the rest of hisside.—Westminster Rev., Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 281.
A large college has usually two tutors,—Trinity has three,—and the students are equally divided among them,—on their sidesthe phrase is.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 11.
SILVER CUP. At Trinity College, Hartford, this is a testimonial voted by each graduating class to the first legitimate boy whose father is a member of the class.
At Yale College, a theory of this kind prevails, but it has never yet been carried into practice.
I tell you what, my classmates,My mind it is made up,I'm coming back three years from this,To take thatsilver cup.I'll bring along the "requisite,"A little white-haired lad,With "bib" and fixings all complete,And I shall be his "dad."Presentation Day Songs, June 14, 1854.
See CLASS CUP.
SIM. Abbreviated fromSimeonite. A nickname given by the rowing men at the University of Cambridge, Eng., to evangelicals, and to all religious men, or even quiet men generally.
While passing for a terribly hard reading man, and a "Sim" of the straitest kind with the "empty bottles,"… I was fast lapsing into a state of literary sensualism.—Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, pp. 39, 40.
SIR. It was formerly the fashion in the older American colleges to call a Bachelor of Arts, Sir; this was sometimes done at the time when the Seniors were accepted for that degree.
Voted, Sept. 5th, 1763, "thatSirSewall, B.A., be the Instructor in the Hebrew and other learned languages for three years."—Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ., p. 234.
December, 1790. Some time in this month,SirAdams resigned the berth of Butler, andSirSamuel Shapleigh was chosen in his stead.—MS. Journal, Harv. Coll.
Then succeeded Cliosophic Oration in Latin, bySirMeigs.Poetical Composition in English, bySirBarlow.—Woolsey'sHist. Disc., p. 121.
The author resided in Cambridge after he graduated. In common with all who had received the degree of Bachelor of Arts and not that of Master of Arts, he was called "Sir," and known as "SirSeccomb."
Some of the "Sirs" as well as undergraduates were arraigned before the college government.—Father Abbey's Will, Cambridge, Mass., 1854, p. 7.
SITTING OF THE SOLSTICES. It was customary, in the early days of Harvard College, for the graduates of the year to attend in the recitation-room on Mondays and Tuesdays, for three weeks, during the month of June, subject to the examination of all who chose to visit them. This was called theSitting of the Solstices, because it happened in midsummer, or at the time of the summer solstice. The time was also known as theWeeks of Visitation.
SIZAR, SISAR, SIZER. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., a student of the third rank, or that next below that of a pensioner, who eats at the public table after the fellows, free of expense. It was formerly customary forevery fellow-commonerto have hissizar, to whom he allowed a certain portion of commons, or victuals and drink, weekly, but no money; and for this the sizar was obliged to do him certain services daily.
A lower order of students were calledsub-sizars. In reference to this class, we take the following from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1787, p. 1146. "At King's College, they were styledhounds. The situation of a sub-sizar being looked upon in so degrading a light probably occasioned the extinction of the order. But as the sub-sizars had certain assistances in return for their humiliating services, and as the poverty of parents stood in need of such assistances for their sons, some of the sizars undertook the same offices for the same advantages. The master's sizar, therefore, waited upon him for the sake of his commons, etc., as the sub-sizar had done; and the other sizars did the same office to the fellows for the advantage of the remains of their commons. Thus the term sub-sizar became forgotten, and the sizar was supposed to be the same as theservitor. But if a sizar did not choose to accept of these assistances upon such degrading terms, he dined in his own room, and was called aproper sizar. He wore the same gown as the others, and his tutorage, etc. was no higher; but there was nothing servile in his situation."—"Now, indeed, all (or almost all) the colleges in Cambridge have allowed the sizars every advantage of the remains of the fellows' commons, etc., though they have very liberally exempted them from every servile office."
Another writer in the same periodical, 1795, p. 21, says: The sizar "is very much like thescholarsat Westminster, Eton, &c., who are on thefoundation; and is, in a manner, thehalf-boarderin private academies. The name was derived from the menial services in which he was occasionally engaged; being in former days compelled to transport the plates, dishes,sizes, and platters, to and from the tables of his superiors."
A writer in the Encyclopædia Britannica, at the close of the article SIZAR, says of this class: "But though their education is thus obtained at a less expense, they are not now considered as a menial order; for sizars, pensioner-scholars, and even sometimes fellow-commoners, mix together with the utmost cordiality."
"Sizars," says Bristed, "answer to the beneficiaries of American colleges. They receive pecuniary assistance from the college, and dine gratis after the fellows on the remains of their table. These 'remains' are very liberally construed, the sizar always having fresh vegetables, and frequently fresh tarts and puddings."—Five Years in an Eng. Univ., Ed. 2d, p. 14.
SIZE. Food and drink from the buttery, aside from the regular dinner at commons.
"Asize" says Minsheu, "is a portion of bread or drinke, it is a farthing which schollers in Cambridge have at the buttery; it is noted with the letter S. as in Oxford with the letter Q. for halfe a farthing; and whereas they say in Oxford, to battle in the Buttery Booke, i.e. to set downe on their names what they take in bread, drinke, butter, cheese, &c.; so, in Cambridge, they say, tosize, i.e. to set downe their quantum, i.e. how much they take on their name in the Buttery Booke."
In the Poems of the Rev. Dr. Dodd, asizeof bread is described as "half a half-penny 'roll.'" Grose, also, in the Provincial Glossary, says "it signifies the half part of a halfpenny loaf, and comes fromscindo, I cut."
In the Encyclopædia Britannica is the following explanation of this term. "Asizeof anything is the smallest quantity of that thing which can be thus bought" [i.e. by students in addition to their commons in the hall]; "twosizes, or a part of beef, being nearly equal to what a young person will eat of that dish to his dinner, and asizeof ale or beer being equal to half an English pint." It would seem, then, that formerly asizewas a small plateful of any eatable; the word now means anything had by students at dinner over and above the usual commons.
Of its derivation Webster remarks, "Either contracted fromassize, or from the Latinscissus. I take it to be from the former, and from the sense of setting, as we apply the word to theassizeof bread."