Chapter III (14)

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 and _scraping_ majestically 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 by _scraping_, 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 a _screw_. The instructor is often designated by the same name.

Haunted by day with fearful _screw_.
_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 mathematical _screw_.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 378.

The consequence was, a patient submission to the _screw_, 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 his _screws_.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XI. p. 336.

What a darned _screw_ our 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 a _screw_, was what excited the chief dread.--_Willard's Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. I. p. 256.

Passing such an examination is often denominated _taking a screw_.

And sad it is to _take a screw_.
_Harv. Reg._, p. 287.

2. At Bowdoin College, an imperfect recitation is called a _screw_.

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, torturing _screw_,
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 been _screwed_, 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 to _screw_.
_Our Chronicle of '26_, Boston, 1827.

In a note to the last quotation, the author says of the word _screw_: "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 tutor _screws_ no 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 the _screwing up_ of 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 a _scrouge_.

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 meaning _to 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 all _Congregations_, to read the _graces_ to 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 of _Second-Year Men_, or _Junior Sophs_ or _Sophisters_, is given to students during the second year of their residence at the University.

SECTION COURT. At Union College, the college buildings are divided into sections, a section comprising about fifteen rooms. Within each section is established a court, which is composed of a judge, an advocate, and a secretary, who are chosen by the students resident therein from their own number, and hold their offices during one college term. Each section court claims the power to summon for trial any inhabitant within the bounds of its jurisdiction who may be charged with improper conduct. The accused may either defend himself, or select some person to plead for him, such residents of the section as choose to do so acting as jurors. The prisoner, if found guilty, is sentenced at the discretion of the court,--generally, to treat the company to some specified drink or dainty. These courts often give occasion for a great deal of fun, and sometimes call out real wit and eloquence.

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.

SECTION OFFICER. At Union College, each section of the college buildings, containing about fifteen rooms, is under the supervision of a professor or tutor, who is styled the _section officer_. This officer is required to see that there be no improper noise in the rooms or corridors, and to report the absence of students from chapel and recitation, and from their rooms during study hours.

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 the _seeds_ in vain retreating.
_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1849.

The wretch had dared to flunk a gory _seed_!
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.

One tells his jokes, the other tells his beads,
One talks of saints, the other sings of _seeds_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.

But we are "_seeds_," whose rowdy deeds
Make up the drunken tale.
_Yale Tomahawk_, Nov. 1849.

First Greek he enters; and with reckless speed
He drags o'er stumps and roots each hapless _seed_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1849.

Each one a bold _seed_, 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 from _seedy_ Senior crowd.
_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.

A _seedy_ Soph 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 and _seedy_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 151.

You will seldom find anything very _seedy_ set for Iambics.--_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 (_vide_ his letters to Stella) to call these jocose tricks 'a _sell_,' from selling a bargain." The word _bargain_, however, which Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines "an unexpected reply tending to obscenity," was formerly used more generally among the English wits. The noun _sell_ has 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 was _sold_.--_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 been _sold_, i.e. defeated in an election, or cheated in some political affair. The phrase _to 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.

Where _sold he bargains_, Whipstitch?--_Dryden_.

No maid at court is less ashamed,
Howe'er for _selling bargains_ famed.--_Swift_.

Dr. Sheridan, famous for punning, intending _to sell a bargain_, said, he had made a very good pun.--_Swift, Bons Mots de Stella_.

SEMESTER. Latin, _semestris_, _sex_, six, and _mensis_, month. In the German universities, a period or term of six months. The course of instruction occupies six _semesters_. Class distinctions depend upon the number of _semesters_, not of years. During the first _semester_, the student is called _Fox_, in the second _Burnt Fox_, and then, successively, _Young Bursch_, _Old Bursch_, _Old House_, and _Moss-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 the _commorantes 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, the _Senatus Academicus_ consists 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 lazy _Senes_.
_Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

A rare young blade is the gallant _Sene_.
_Ibid._, Nov. 1850.

SENIOR. One in the fourth year of his collegiate course at an American college; originally called _Senior 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 for _Senior Classic_ alongside 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 for _Senior 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 the _Seniority_. Their decisions in all matters are generally conclusive.

My duty now obliges me, however reluctantly, to bring you before the _Seniority_.--_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 denominated _Senior Optimes_.

The Second Class, or that of _Senior 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 the _Senior Ops._--_Ibid._, p. 158.

He would get just questions enough to make him a low _Senior Op._ --_Ibid._, p. 222.

SENIOR ORATION. "The custom of delivering _Senior 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 Senior Wrangler is the student who passes the best examination in the Senate-House, and by consequence holds the first place on the Mathematical 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 the _Senior Wrangler_ and 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 of _suspend_ or _rusticate_.

Though they were adulti, they were corrected in the College, and _sequestered_, &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. _Servitors_ formerly waited at table, but this is now dispensed with. The order similar to that of the _servitor_ was at Cambridge styled the order of _Sub-sizars_. This has been long extinct. The _sizar_ at Cambridge is at present nearly equivalent to the Oxford _servitor_.--_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.

The _session_ commences 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 "from _time 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 is _always_ sung 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 crime
Of 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 of _a 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 mouth
Doe 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 which
Our fathers have us told.

Them from their children wee'l not hide,
To th' after age shewing
The Lords prayses; his strength, and works
Of his wondrous doing.

In Jacob he a witnesse set,
And put in Israell
A law, which he our fathers charg'd
They should their children tell:

That th' age to come, and children which
Are to be borne might know;
That they might rise up and the same
Unto their children show.

That they upon the mighty God
Their confidence might set:
And Gods works and his commandment
Might keep and not forget,

And might not like their fathers be,
A stiffe, stout race; a race
That set not right their hearts: nor firme
With 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 deeds
Which 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 down
Through every rising race.

Our lips shall tell them to our sons,
And they again to theirs,
That generations yet unborn
May teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn in God alone
Their 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 law
Devout attention lend;
Let the instruction of my mouth
Deep 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 registers
Of ancient times have known,
And our forefathers' pious care
To us has handed down.

We will not hide them from our sons;
Our offspring shall be taught
The praises of the Lord, whose strength
Has 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 come
Should to their unborn heirs
Religiously transmit the same,
And they again to theirs.

To teach them that in God alone
Their 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 law
Devout attention lend;
Let the instructions[63] of my mouth
Deep 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 registers
Of ancient times have known,
And our forefathers' pious care
To us has handed down.

Let children learn[64] the mighty deeds
Which 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 unborn
May teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn in God alone
Their 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 rather _shady_ in Greek and Latin.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 147.

My performances on the Latin verse paper were very _shady_.--_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 a _shark_. 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 for _sharks_.
_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 a _sheepskin_, or to be a _sheepskin_, when educated at college."--_Bartlett's Dict. of Americanisms_.

This apostle of ourn never rubbed his back agin a college, nor toted about no _sheepskins_,--no, never!... How you'd a perished in your sins, if the first preachers had stayed till they got _sheepskins_.--_Carlton's New Purchase_.

I can say as well as the best on them _sheepskins_, 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 his _sheepskin_ from 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 huge _sheepskin_.
_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 been _shinned_, 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 of _Shinny_, known also by the names of _Hawky_ and _Hurly_, 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 the _Campus_, 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 be _shipped_.

For I, you know, am but a college minion,
But still, you'll all be _shipped_, 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 a _shipwreck_, 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 to _long-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 his _side_.

A longer discourse he will perhaps have to listen to with the rest of his _side_.--_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 sides_ the 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 that _silver 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 from _Simeonite_. 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, "that _Sir_ Sewall, 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, _Sir_ Adams resigned the berth of Butler, and _Sir_ Samuel Shapleigh was chosen in his stead.--_MS. Journal, Harv. Coll._

Then succeeded Cliosophic Oration in Latin, by _Sir_ Meigs. Poetical Composition in English, by _Sir_ Barlow.--_Woolsey's Hist. 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 "_Sir_ Seccomb."

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 the _Sitting of the Solstices_, because it happened in midsummer, or at the time of the summer solstice. The time was also known as the _Weeks 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 for _every fellow-commoner_ to have his _sizar_, 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 called _sub-sizars_. In reference to this class, we take the following from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1787, p. 1146. "At King's College, they were styled _hounds_. 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 the _servitor_. 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 a _proper 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 the _scholars_ at Westminster, Eton, &c., who are on the _foundation_; and is, in a manner, the _half-boarder_ in 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.

"A _size_" 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, to _size_, 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, a _size_ of 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 from _scindo_, I cut."

In the Encyclopædia Britannica is the following explanation of this term. "A _size_ of 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]; "two _sizes_, or a part of beef, being nearly equal to what a young person will eat of that dish to his dinner, and a _size_ of ale or beer being equal to half an English pint." It would seem, then, that formerly a _size_ was 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 from _assize_, or from the Latin _scissus_. I take it to be from the former, and from the sense of setting, as we apply the word to the _assize_ of bread."

This word was introduced into the older American colleges from Cambridge, England, and was used for many years, as was also the word _sizing_, with the same meaning. In 1750, the Corporation of Harvard College voted, "that the quantity of commons be as hath been usual, viz. two _sizes_ of bread in the morning; one pound of meat at dinner, with sufficient sauce [vegetables], and a half-pint of beer; and at night that a part pie be of the same quantity as usual, and also half a pint of beer; and that the supper messes be but of four parts, though the dinner messes be of six."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Coll._, Vol. II. p. 97.

The students of that day, if we may judge from the accounts which we have of their poor commons, would have used far different words, in addressing the Faculty, from King Lear, who, speaking to his daughter Regan, says:--

"'T is not in thee
To grudge my pleasures,...
... to scant my _sizes_."

SIZE. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., to _size_ is to order any sort of victuals from the kitchens which the students may want in their rooms, or in addition to their commons in the hall, and for which they pay the cooks or butchers at the end of each quarter; a word corresponding to BATTEL at Oxford.--_Encyc. Brit._

In the Gentleman's Magazine, 1795, p. 21, a writer says: "At dinner, to _size_ is to order for yourself any little luxury that may chance to tempt you in addition to the general fare, for which you are expected to pay the cook at the end of the term."

This word was formerly used in the older American colleges with the meaning given above, as will be seen by the following extracts from the laws of Harvard and Yale.

"When they come into town after commons, they may be allowed to _size_ a meal at the kitchen."--_Laws of Harv. Coll._, 1798, p. 39.

"At the close of each quarter, the Butler shall make up his bill against each student, in which every article _sized_ or taken up by him at the Buttery shall be particularly charged."--_Laws Yale Coll._, 1811, p. 31.

"As a college term," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "it is of very considerable antiquity. In the comedy called 'The Return from Parnassus,' 1606, one of the character says, 'You that are one of the Devil's Fellow-Commoners; one that _sizeth_ the Devil's butteries,' &c. Again, in the same: 'Fidlers, I use to _size_ my music, or go on the score for it.'"

_For_ is often used after the verb _size_, without changing the meaning of the expression.

The tables of the Undergraduates, arranged according to their respective years, are supplied with abundance of plain joints, and vegetables, and beer and ale _ad libitum_, besides which, soup, pastry, and cheese can be "_sized for_," that is, brought in portions to individuals at an extra charge.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 19.

_To size upon another_. To order extra food, and without permission charge it to another's account.

If any one shall _size upon another_, he shall be fined a Shilling, and pay the Damage; and every Freshman sent [for victuals] must declare that he who sends him is the only Person to be charged.--_Laws Yale Coll._, 1774, p. 10.

SIZING. Extra food or drink ordered from the buttery; the act of ordering extra food or drink from the buttery.

Dr. Holyoke, who graduated at Harvard College in 1746, says: "The breakfast was two _sizings_ of bread and a cue of beer." Judge Wingate, who graduated a little later, says: "We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint, and a _sizing_ of bread, which I cannot describe to you. It was quite sufficient for one dinner."--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, p. 219.

From more definite accounts it would seem that a sizing of biscuit was one biscuit, and a sizing of cracker, two crackers. A certain amount of food was allowed to each mess, and if any person wanted more than the allowance, it was the custom to tell the waiter to bring a sizing of whatever was wished, provided it was obtained from the commons kitchen; for this payment was made at the close of the term. A sizing of cheese was nearly an ounce, and a sizing of cider varied from a half-pint to a pint and a half.

The Steward shall, at the close of every quarter, immediately fill up the columns of commons and _sizings_, and shall deliver the bill, &c.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1798, p. 58.

The Butler shall frequently inspect his book of _sizings_.--_Ibid._, p. 62.

Whereas young scholars, to the dishonor of God, hinderance of their studies, and damage of their friends' estate, inconsiderately and intemperately are ready to abuse their liberty of _sizing_ besides their commons; therefore the Steward shall in no case permit any students whatever, under the degree of Masters of Arts, or Fellows, to expend or be provided for themselves or any townsmen any extraordinary commons, unless by the allowance of the President, &c., or in case of sickness.--Orders written 28th March, 1650.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 583.

This term, together with the verb and noun _size_, which had been in use at Harvard and Yale Colleges since their foundation, has of late been little heard, and with the extinction of commons has, with the others, fallen wholly, and probably for ever, into disuse.

The use of this word and its collaterals is still retained in the University of Cambridge, Eng.

Along the wall you see two tables, which, though less carefully provided than the Fellows', are still served with tolerable decency, and go through a regular second course instead of the "_sizings_."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 20.

SIZING PARTY. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., where this term is used, a "_sizing party_" says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "differs from a supper in this; viz. at a sizing party every one of the guests contributes his _part_, i.e. orders what he pleases, at his own expense, to his friend's rooms,--'a _part_ of fowl' or duck; a roasted pigeon; 'a _part_ of apple pie.' A sober beaker of brandy, or rum, or hollands and water, concludes the entertainment. In our days, a bowl of bishop, or milk punch, with a chant, generally winds up the carousal."

SKIN. At Yale College, to obtain a knowledge of a lesson by hearing it read by another; also, to borrow another's ideas and present them as one's own; to plagiarize; to become possessed of information in an examination or a recitation by unfair or secret means. "In our examinations," says a correspondent, "many of the fellows cover the palms of their hands with dates, and when called upon for a given date, they read it off directly from their hands. Such persons _skin_."

The tutor employs the crescent when it is evident that the lesson has been _skinned_, according to the college vocabulary, in which case he usually puts a minus sign after it, with the mark which he in all probability would have used had not the lesson been _skinned_.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1846.

Never _skin_ a lesson which it requires any ability to learn.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 81.

He has passively admitted what he has _skinned_ from other grammarians.--_Yale Banger_, Nov. 1846.

Perhaps the youth who so barefacedly _skinned_ the song referred to, fondly fancied, &c.--_The Tomahawk_, Nov. 1849.

He uttered that remarkable prophecy which Horace has so boldly _skinned_ and called his own.--_Burial of Euclid_, Nov. 1850.

A Pewter medal is awarded in the Senior Class, for the most remarkable example of _skinned_ Composition.--_Burlesque Catalogue, Yale Coll._, 1852-53, p. 29.

Classical men were continually tempted to "_skin_" (copy) the solutions of these examples.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 381.

_To skin ahead_; at Hamilton College, to read a lesson over in the class immediately before reciting.

SKIN. A lesson learned by hearing it read by another; borrowed ideas; anything plagiarized.

'T was plenty of _skin_ with a good deal of Bohn.[65]
_Songs, Biennial Jubilee, Yale Coll._, 1855.

SKINNING. Learning, or the act of learning, a lesson by hearing it read by another; plagiarizing.

Alas for our beloved orations! acquired by _skinning_, looking on, and ponies.--_Yale Banger_, Oct. 1848.

Barefaced copying from books and reviews in their compositions is familiar to our students, as much so as "_skinning_" their mathematical examples.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 394.

SKUNK. At Princeton College, to fail to pay a debt; used actively; e.g. to _skunk_ a tailor, i.e. not to pay him.

SLANG. To scold, chide, rebuke. The use of this word as a verb is in a measure peculiar to students.

These drones are posted separately as "not worthy to be classed," and privately _slanged_ afterwards by the Master and Seniors.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 74.

"I am afraid of going to T------," you may hear it said; "he don't _slang_ his men enough."--_Ibid._, p. 148.

His vanity is sure to be speedily checked, and first of all by his private tutor, who "_slangs_" him for a mistake here or an inelegancy there.--_Ibid._, p. 388.

SLANGING. Abusing, chiding, blaming.

As he was not backward in _slanging_,--one of the requisites of a good coach,--he would give it to my unfortunate composition right and left.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 166.

SLEEPING OVER. A phrase equivalent to being absent from prayers.

You may see some who have just arisen from their beds, where they have enjoyed the luxury of "_sleeping over_."--_Harv. Reg._, p. 202.

SLOW. An epithet of depreciation, especially among students.

Its equivalent slang is to be found in the phrases, "no great shakes," and "small potatoes."--_Bristed_.