Chapter III (4)

CONVICTOR. Latin, _a familiar acquaintance_. In the University of Oxford, those are called _convictores_ who, although not belonging to the foundation of any college or hall, have at any time been regents, and have constantly kept their names on the books of some college or hall, from the time of their admission to the degree of M.A., or Doctors in either of the three faculties.--_Oxf. Cal._

CONVOCATION. At Oxford, the house of _convocation_ is one of the two assemblies in which the business of the University, as such, is transacted. It consists both of regents and non-regents, "that is, in brief, all masters of arts not 'honorary,' or 'ad eundems' from Cambridge or Dublin, and of course graduates of a higher order." In this house, the Chancellor, or his vicar the Vice-Chancellor, or in his absence one of his four deputies, termed Pro-Vice-Chancellors, and the two Proctors, either by themselves or their deputies, always preside. The business of this assembly--which may be considered as the house of commons, excepting that the lords have a vote here equally as in their own upper house, i.e. the house of congregation--is unlimited, extending to all subjects connected with the well-being of the University, including the election of Chancellor, members of Parliament, and many of the officers of the University, the conferring of extraordinary degrees, and the disposal of the University ecclesiastical patronage. It has no initiative power, this resting solely with the hebdomadal board, but it can debate, and accept or refuse, the measures which originate in that board.--_Oxford Guide. Literary World_, Vol. XII. p. 223.

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

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

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

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

The word _copus_ and the beverage itself are both extensively used among the _men_ of the University of Cambridge, England. "The conjecture," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "is surely ridiculous and senseless, that _Copus_ is contracted from _Epis_copus, a bishop, 'a mixture of wine, oranges, and sugar.' A copus of ale is a common fine at the student's table in hall for speaking Latin, or for some similar impropriety."

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

CORK, CALK. In some of the Southern colleges, this word, with a derived meaning, signifies a _complete stopper_. Used in the sense of an entire failure in reciting; an utter inability to answer an instructor's interrogatories.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. In the older American colleges, corporal punishment was formerly sanctioned by law, and several instances remain on record which show that its infliction was not of rare occurrence.

Among the laws, rules, and scholastic forms established between the years 1642 and 1646, by Mr. Dunster, the first President of Harvard College, occurs the following: "Siquis scholarium ullam Dei et hujus Collegii legem, sive animo perverso, seu ex supinâ negligentiâ, violârit, postquam fuerit bis admonitus, si non adultus, _virgis coërceatur_, sin adultus, ad Inspectores Collegii deferendus erit, ut publicè in eum pro merítis animadversio fiat." In the year 1656, this law was strengthened by another, recorded by Quincy, in these words: "It is hereby ordered that the President and Fellows of Harvard College, for the time being, or the major part of them, are hereby empowered, according to their best discretion, to punish all misdemeanors of the youth in their society, either by fine, or _whipping in the Hall openly_, as the nature of the offence shall require, not exceeding ten shillings or _ten stripes_ for one offence; and this law to continue in force until this Court or the Overseers of the College provide some other order to punish such offences."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. pp. 578, 513.

A knowledge of the existence of such laws as the above is in some measure a preparation for the following relation given by Mr. Peirce in his History of Harvard University.

"At the period when Harvard College was founded," says that gentleman, "one of the modes of punishment in the great schools of England and other parts of Europe was corporal chastisement. It was accordingly introduced here, and was, no doubt, frequently put in practice. An instance of its infliction, as part of the sentence upon an offender, is presented in Judge Sewall's MS. Diary, with the particulars of a ceremonial, which was reserved probably for special occasions. His account will afford some idea of the manners and spirit of the age:--

"'June 15, 1674, Thomas Sargeant was examined by the Corporation finally. The advice of Mr. Danforth, Mr. Stoughton, Mr. Thacher, Mr. Mather (the present), was taken. This was his sentence:

"'That being convicted of speaking blasphemous words concerning the H.G., he should be therefore publickly whipped before all the scholars.

"'2. That he should be suspended as to taking his degree of Bachelor. (This sentence read before him twice at the President's before the Committee and in the Library, before execution.)

"'3. Sit alone by himself in the Hall uncovered at meals, during the pleasure of the President and Fellows, and be in all things obedient, doing what exercise was appointed him by the President, or else be finally expelled the College. The first was presently put in execution in the Library (Mr. Danforth, Jr. being present) before the scholars. He kneeled down, and the instrument, Goodman Hely, attended the President's word as to the performance of his part in the work. Prayer was had before and after by the President, July 1, 1674.'"

"Men's ideas," continues Mr. Peirce, "must have been very different from those of the present day, to have tolerated a law authorizing so degrading a treatment of the members of such a society. It may easily be imagined what complaints and uneasiness its execution must frequently have occasioned among the friends and connections of those who were the subjects of it. In one instance, it even occasioned the prosecution of a Tutor; but this was as late as 1733, when old rudeness had lost much of the people's reverence. The law, however, was suffered, with some modification, to continue more than a century. In the revised body of Laws made in the year 1734, we find this article: 'Notwithstanding the preceding pecuniary mulcts, it shall be lawful for the President, Tutors, and Professors, to punish Undergraduates by Boxing, when they shall judge the nature or circumstances of the offence call for it.' This relic of barbarism, however, was growing more and more repugnant to the general taste and sentiment. The late venerable Dr. Holyoke, who was of the class of 1746, observed, that in his day 'corporal punishment was going out of use'; and at length it was expunged from the code, never, we trust, to be recalled from the rubbish of past absurdities."--pp. 227, 228.

The last movements which were made in reference to corporal punishment are thus stated by President Quincy, in his History of Harvard University. "In July, 1755, the Overseers voted, that it [the right of boxing] should be 'taken away.' The Corporation, however, probably regarded it as too important an instrument of authority to be for ever abandoned, and voted, 'that it should be suspended, as to the execution of it, for one year.' When this vote came before the Overseers for their sanction, the board hesitated, and appointed a large committee 'to consider and make report what punishments they apprehend proper to be substituted instead of boxing, in case it be thought expedient to repeal or suspend the law which allows or establishes the same.' From this period the law disappeared, and the practice was discontinued."--Vol. II. p. 134.

The manner in which corporal punishment was formerly inflicted at Yale College is stated by President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse, delivered at New Haven, August, 1850. After speaking of the methods of punishing by fines and degradation, he thus proceeds to this topic: "There was a still more remarkable punishment, as it must strike the men of our times, and which, although for some reason or other no traces of it exist in any of our laws so far as I have discovered, was in accordance with the 'good old plan,' pursued probably ever since the origin of universities. I refer--'horresco referens'--to the punishment of boxing or cuffing. It was applied before the Faculty to the luckless offender by the President, towards whom the culprit, in a standing position, inclined his head, while blows fell in quick succession upon either ear. No one seems to have been served in this way except Freshmen and commencing 'Sophimores.'[12] I do not find evidence that this usage much survived the first jubilee of the College. One of the few known instances of it, which is on other accounts remarkable, was as follows. A student in the first quarter of his Sophomore year, having committed an offence for which he had been boxed when a Freshman, was ordered to be boxed again, and to have the additional penalty of acting as butler's waiter for one week. On presenting himself, _more academico_, for the purpose of having his ears boxed, and while the blow was falling, he dodged and fled from the room and the College. The beadle was thereupon ordered to try to find him, and to command him to keep himself out of College and out of the yard, and to appear at prayers the next evening, there to receive further orders. He was then publicly admonished and suspended; but in four days after submitted to the punishment adjudged, which was accordingly inflicted, and upon his public confession his suspension was taken off. Such public confessions, now unknown, were then exceedingly common."

After referring to the instance mentioned above, in which corporal punishment was inflicted at Harvard College, the author speaks as follows, in reference to the same subject, as connected with the English universities. "The excerpts from the body of Oxford statutes, printed in the very year when this College was founded, threaten corporal punishment to persons of the proper age,--that is, below the age of eighteen,--for a variety of offences; and among the rest for disrespect to Seniors, for frequenting places where 'vinum aut quivis alius potus aut herba Nicotiana ordinarie venditur,' for coming home to their rooms after the great Tom or bell of Christ's Church had sounded, and for playing football within the University precincts or in the city streets. But the statutes of Trinity College, Cambridge, contain more remarkable rules, which are in theory still valid, although obsolete in fact. All the scholars, it is there said, who are absent from prayers,--Bachelors excepted,--if over eighteen years of age, 'shall be fined a half-penny, but if they have not completed the year of their age above mentioned, they shall be chastised with rods in the hall on Friday.' At this chastisement all undergraduates were required to be lookers on, the Dean having the rod of punishment in his hand; and it was provided also, that whosoever should not answer to his name on this occasion, if a boy, should be flogged on Saturday. No doubt this rigor towards the younger members of the society was handed down from the monastic forms which education took in the earlier schools of the Middle Ages. And an advance in the age of admission, as well as a change in the tone of treatment of the young, may account for this system being laid aside at the universities; although, as is well known, it continues to flourish at the great public schools of England."--pp. 49-51.

CORPORATION. The general government of colleges and universities is usually vested in a corporation aggregate, which is preserved by a succession of members. "The President and Fellows of Harvard College," says Mr. Quincy in his History of Harvard University, "being the only Corporation in the Province, and so continuing during the whole of the seventeenth century, they early assumed, and had by common usage conceded to them, the name of "_The Corporation_," by which they designate themselves in all the early records. Their proceedings are recorded as being done 'at a meeting of _the Corporation_,' or introduced by the formula, 'It is ordered by _the Corporation_,' without stating the number or the names of the members present, until April 19th, 1675, when, under President Oakes, the names of those present were first entered on the records, and afterwards they were frequently, though not uniformly, inserted."--Vol. I. p. 274.

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

COSTUME. At the English universities there are few objects that attract the attention of the stranger more than the various academical dresses worn by the members of those institutions. The following description of the various costumes assumed in the University of Cambridge is taken from "The Cambridge Guide," Ed. 1845.

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

"_Doctors in the Civil Law and in Physic_ have two robes: the _first_ is the scarlet gown, as just described, and the _second_, or ordinary dress of a D.C.L., is a black silk gown, with a plain square collar, the sleeves hanging down square to the feet;--the ordinary gown of an M.D. is of the same shape, but trimmed at the collar, sleeves, and front with rich black silk lace.

"A _Doctor in Music_ commonly wears the same dress as a D.C.L.; but on festival and scarlet-days is arrayed in a gown made of rich white damask silk, with sleeves and facings of rose-color, a hood of the same, and a round black velvet cap with gold tassel.

"_Bachelors in Divinity_ and _Masters of Arts_ wear a black gown, made of bombazine, poplin, or silk. It has sleeves extending to the feet, with apertures for the arms just above the elbow, and may be distinguished by the shape of the sleeves, which hang down square, and are cut out at the bottom like the section of a horseshoe.

"_Bachelors in the Civil Law and in Physic_ wear a gown of the same shape as that of a Master of Arts.

"All Graduates of the above ranks are entitled to wear a hat, instead of the square black cloth cap, with their gowns, and the custom of doing so is generally adopted, except by the HEADS, _Tutors_, and _University_ and _College Officers_, who consider it more correct to appear in the full academical costume.

"A _Bachelor of Arts'_ gown is made of bombazine or poplin, with large sleeves terminating in a point, with apertures for the arms, just below the shoulder-joint.[13] _Bachelor Fellow-Commoners_ usually wear silk gowns, and square velvet caps. The caps of other Bachelors are of cloth.

"All the above, being _Graduates_, when they use surplices in chapel wear over them their _hoods_, which are peculiar to the several degrees. The hoods of _Doctors_ are made of scarlet cloth, lined with rose-colored silk; those of _Bachelors in Divinity_, and _Non-Regent Masters of Arts_, are of black silk; those of _Regent Masters of Arts_ and _Bachelors in the Civil Law and in Physic_, of black silk lined with white; and those of _Bachelors of Arts_, of black serge, trimmed with a border of white lamb's-wool.

"The dresses of the _Undergraduates_ are the following:--

"A _Nobleman_ has two gowns: the _first_ in shape like that of the Fellow-Commoners, is made of purple Ducape, very richly embroidered with gold lace, and is worn in public processions, and on festival-days: a square black velvet cap with a very large gold tassel is worn with it;--the _second_, or ordinary gown, is made of black silk, with full round sleeves, and a hat is worn with it. The latter dress is worn also by the Bachelor Fellows of King's College.

"A _Fellow-Commoner_ wears a black prince's stuff gown, with a square collar, and straight hanging sleeves, which are decorated with gold lace; and a square black velvet cap with a gold tassel.

"The Fellow-Commoners of Emmanuel College wear a similar gown, with the addition of several gold-lace buttons attached to the trimmings on the sleeves;--those of Trinity College have a purple prince's stuff gown, adorned with silver lace,[14] and a silver tassel is attached to the cap;--at Downing the gown is made of black silk, of the same shape, ornamented with tufts and silk lace; and a square cap of velvet with a gold tassel is worn. At Jesus College, a Bachelor's silk gown is worn, plaited up at the sleeve, and with a gold lace from the shoulder to the bend of the arm. At Queen's a Bachelor's silk gown, with a velvet cap and gold tassel, is worn: the same at Corpus and Magdalene; at the latter it is gathered and looped up at the sleeve,--at the former (Corpus) it has velvet facings. Married Fellow-Commoners usually wear a black silk gown, with full, round sleeves, and a square velvet cap with silk tassel.[15]

"The _Pensioner's_ gown and cap are mostly of the same material and shape as those of the Bachelor's: the gown differs only in the mode of trimming. At Trinity and Caius Colleges the gown is purple, with large sleeves, terminating in a point. At St. Peter's and Queen's, the gown is precisely the same as that of a Bachelor; and at King's, the same, but made of fine black woollen cloth. At Corpus Christi is worn a B.A. gown, with black velvet facings. At Downing and Trinity Hall the gown is made of black bombazine, with large sleeves, looped up at the elbows.[16]

"_Students in the Civil Law and in Physic_, who have kept their Acts, wear a full-sleeved gown, and are entitled to use a B.A. hood.

"Bachelors of Arts and Undergraduates are obliged by the statutes to wear their academical costume constantly in public, under a penalty of 6s. 8d. for every omission.[17]

"Very few of the _University Officers_ have distinctive dresses.

"The _Chancellor's_ gown is of black damask silk, very richly embroidered with gold. It is worn with a broad, rich lace band, and square velvet cap with large gold tassel.

"The _Vice-Chancellor_ dresses merely as a Doctor, except at Congregations in the Senate-House, when he wears a cope. When proceeding to St. Mary's, or elsewhere, in his official capacity, he is preceded by the three Esquire-Bedells with their silver maces, which were the gift of Queen Elizabeth.

"The _Regius Professors of the Civil Law and of Physic_, when they preside at Acts in the Schools, wear copes, and round black velvet caps with gold tassels.

"The _Proctors_ are not distinguishable from other Masters of Arts, except at St. Mary's Church and at Congregations, when they wear cassocks and black silk ruffs, and carry the Statutes of the University, being attended by two servants, dressed in large blue cloaks, ornamented with gold-lace buttons.

"The _Yeoman-Bedell_, in processions, precedes the Esquire-Bedells, carrying an ebony mace, tipped with silver; his gown, as well as those of the _Marshal_ and _School-Keeper_, is made of black prince's stuff, with square collar, and square hanging sleeves."--pp. 28-33.

At the University of Oxford, Eng., the costume of the Graduates is as follows:--

"The Doctor in Divinity has three dresses: the first consists of a gown of scarlet cloth, with black velvet sleeves and facings, a cassock, sash, and scarf. This dress is worn on all public occasions in the Theatre, in public processions, and on those Sundays and holidays marked (*) in the _Oxford Calendar_. The second is a habit of scarlet cloth, and a hood of the same color lined with black, and a black silk scarf: the Master of Arts' gown is worn under this dress, the sleeves appearing through the arm-holes of the habit. This is the dress of business; it is used in Convocation, Congregation, at Morning Sermons at St. Mary's during the term, and at Afternoon Sermons at St. Peter's during Lent, with the exception of the Morning Sermon on Quinquagesima Sunday, and the Morning Sermons in Lent. The third, which is the usual dress in which a Doctor of Divinity appears, is a Master of Arts' gown, with cassock, sash, and scarf. The Vice-Chancellor and Heads of Colleges and Halls have no distinguishing dress, but appear on all occasions as Doctors in the faculty to which they belong.

"The dresses worn by Graduates in Law and Physic are nearly the same. The Doctor has three. The first is a gown of scarlet cloth, with sleeves and facings of pink silk, and a round black velvet cap. This is the dress of state. The second consists of a habit and hood of scarlet cloth, the habit faced and the hood lined with pink silk. This habit, which is perfectly analogous to the second dress of the Doctor in Divinity, has lately grown into disuse; it is, however, retained by the Professors, and is always used in presenting to Degrees. The third or common dress of a Doctor in Law or Physic nearly resembles that of the Bachelor in these faculties; it is a black silk gown richly ornamented with black lace; the hood of the Bachelor of Laws (worn as a dress) is of purple silk, lined with white fur.

"The dress worn by the Doctor of Music on public occasions is a rich white damask silk gown, with sleeves and facings of crimson satin, a hood of the same material, and a round black velvet cap. The usual dresses of the Doctor and of the Bachelor in Music are nearly the same as those of Law and Physic.

"The Master of Arts wears a black gown, usually made of prince's stuff or crape, with long sleeves which are remarkable for the circular cut at the bottom. The arm comes through an aperture in the sleeve, which hangs down. The hood of a Master of Arts is black silk lined with crimson.

"The gown of a Bachelor of Arts is also usually made of prince's stuff or crape. It has a full sleeve, looped up at the elbow, and terminating in a point; the dress hood is black, trimmed with white fur. In Lent, at the time of _determining_ in the Schools, a strip of lamb's-wool is worn in addition to the hood. Noblemen and Gentlemen-Commoners, who take the Degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, wear their gowns of silk."

The costume of the Undergraduates is thus described:--

"The Nobleman has two dresses; the first, which is worn in the Theatre, in processions, and on all public occasions, is a gown of purple damask silk, richly ornamented with gold lace. The second is a black silk gown, with full sleeves; it has a tippet attached to the shoulders. With both these dresses is worn a square cap of black velvet, with a gold tassel.

"The Gentleman-Commoner has two gowns, _both of black silk_; the first, which is considered as a dress gown, although worn on all occasions, at pleasure, is richly ornamented with tassels. The second, or undress gown, is ornamented with plaits at the sleeves. A square black velvet cap with a silk tassel, is worn with both.

"The dress of Commoners is a gown of black prince's stuff, without sleeves; from each shoulder is appended a broad strip, which reaches to the bottom of the dress, and towards the top is gathered into plaits. Square cap of black cloth and silk tassel.

"The student in Civil Law, or Civilian, wears a plain black silk gown, and square cloth cap, with silk tassel.

"Scholars and Demies of Magdalene, and students of Christ Church who have not taken a degree, wear a plain black gown of prince's stuff, with round, full sleeves half the length of the gown, and a square black cap, with silk tassel.

"The dress of the Servitor is the same as that of the Commoner, but it has no plaits at the shoulder, and the cap is without a tassel."

The costume of those among the University Officers who are distinguished by their dress, may be thus noted:--

"The dress of the Chancellor is of black damask silk, richly ornamented with gold embroidery, a rich lace band, and square velvet cap, with a large gold tassel.

"The Proctors wear gowns of prince's stuff, the sleeves and facings of black velvet; to the left shoulder is affixed a small tippet. To this is added, as a dress, a large ermine hood.

"The Pro-Proctor wears a Master of Arts' gown, faced with velvet, with a tippet attached to the left shoulder."

The Collectors wear the same dress as the Proctors, with the exception of the hood and tippet.

The Esquire Bedels wear silk gowns, similar to those of Bachelors of Law, and round velvet caps. The Yeoman Bedels have black stuff gowns, and round silk caps.

The dress of the Verger is nearly the same as that of the Yeoman Bedel.

"Bands at the neck are considered as necessary appendages to the academic dress, particularly on all public occasions."--_Guide to Oxford_.

See DRESS.

COURTS. At the English universities, the squares or acres into which each college is divided. Called also quadrangles, abbreviated quads.

All the colleges are constructed in quadrangles or _courts_; and, as in course of years the population of every college, except one,[18] has outgrown the original quadrangle, new courts have been added, so that the larger foundations have three, and one[19] has four courts.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 2.

CRACKLING. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., in common parlance, the three stripes of velvet which a member of St. John's College wears on his sleeve, are designated by this name.

Various other gowns are to be discerned, the Pembroke looped at the sleeve, the Christ's and Catherine curiously crimped in front, and the Johnian with its unmistakable "_Crackling_"--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 73.

CRAM. To prepare a student to pass an examination; to study in view of examination. In the latter sense used in American colleges.

In the latter [Euclid] it is hardly possible, at least not near so easy as in Logic, to present the semblance of preparation by learning questions and answers by rote:--in the cant phrase of undergraduates, by getting _crammed_.--_Whalely's Logic, Preface_.

For many weeks he "_crams_" him,--daily does he rehearse.
_Poem before the Iadma of Harv. Coll._, 1850.

A class of men arose whose business was to _cram_ the candidates. --_Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 246.

In a wider sense, to prepare another, or one's self, by study, for any occasion.

The members of the bar were lounging about that tabooed precinct, some smoking, some talking and laughing, some poring over long, ill-written papers or large calf-bound books, and all big with the ponderous interests depending upon them, and the eloquence and learning with which they were "_crammed_" for the occasion.--_Talbot and Vernon_.

When he was to write, it was necessary to _cram_ him with the facts and points.--_F.K. Hunt's Fourth Estate_, 1850.

CRAM. All miscellaneous information about Ancient History, Geography, Antiquities, Law, &c.; all classical matter not included under the heads of TRANSLATION and COMPOSITION, which can be learned by CRAMMING. Peculiar to the English Universities.--_Bristed_.

2. The same as CRAMMING, which see.

I have made him promise to give me four or five evenings of about half an hour's _cram_ each.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 240.

It is not necessary to practise "_cram_" so outrageously as at some of the college examinations.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

3. A paper on which is written something necessary to be learned, previous to an examination.

"Take care what you light your cigars with," said Belton, "you'll be burning some of Tufton's _crams_: they are stuck all about the pictures."--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 223.

He puzzled himself with his _crams_ he had in his pocket, and copied what he did not understand.--_Ibid._, p. 279.

CRAMBAMBULI. A favorite drink among the students in the German universities, composed of burnt rum and sugar.

_Crambambuli_, das ist der Titel
Des Tranks, der sich bei uns bewährt.
_Drinking song_.

To the next! let's have the _crambambuli_ first, however.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XII. p. 117.

CRAM BOOK. A book in which are laid down such topics as constitute an examination, together with the requisite answers to the questions proposed on that occasion.

He in consequence engages a private tutor, and buys all the _cram books_ published for the occasion.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 128.

CRAMINATION. A farcical word, signifying the same as _cramming_; the termination _tion_ being suffixed for the sake of mock dignity.

The ---- scholarship is awarded to the student in each Senior Class who attends most to _cramination_ on the College course.--_Burlesque Catalogue_, Yale Coll., 1852-53, p. 28.

CRAM MAN. One who is cramming for an examination.

He has read all the black-lettered divinity in the Bodleian, and says that none of the _cram men_ shall have a chance with him.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 274.

CRAMMER. One who prepares another for an examination.

The qualifications of a _crammer_ are given in the following extract from the Collegian's Guide.

"The first point, therefore, in which a crammer differs from other tutors, is in the selection of subjects. While another tutor would teach every part of the books given up, he virtually reduces their quantity, dwelling chiefly on the 'likely parts.'

"The second point in which a crammer excels is in fixing the attention, and reducing subjects to the comprehension of ill-formed and undisciplined minds.

"The third qualification of a crammer is a happy manner and address, to encourage the desponding, to animate the idle, and to make the exertions of the pupil continually increase in such a ratio, that he shall be wound up to concert pitch by the day of entering the schools."--pp. 231, 232.

CRAMMING. A cant term, in the British universities, for the act of preparing a student to pass an examination, by going over the topics with him beforehand, and furnishing him with the requisite answers.--_Webster_.

The author of the Collegian's Guide, speaking of examinations, says: "First, we must observe that all examinations imply the existence of examiners, and examiners, like other mortal beings, lie open to the frauds of designing men, through the uniformity and sameness of their proceedings. This uniformity inventive men have analyzed and reduced to a system, founding thereon a certain science, and corresponding art, called _Cramming_."--p. 229.

The power of "_cramming_"--of filling the mind with knowledge hastily acquired for a particular occasion, and to be forgotten when that occasion is past--is a power not to be despised, and of much use in the world, especially at the bar.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

I shall never forget the torment I suffered in _cramming_ long lessons in Greek Grammar.--_Dickens's Household Words_, Vol. I. p. 192.

CRAM PAPER. A paper in which are inserted such questions as are generally asked at an examination. The manner in which these questions are obtained is explained in the following extract. "Every pupil, after his examination, comes to thank him as a matter of course; and as every man, you know, is loquacious enough on such occasions, Tufton gets out of him all the questions he was asked in the schools; and according to these questions, he has moulded his _cram papers_."--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 239.

We should be puzzled to find any questions more absurd and unreasonable than those in the _cram papers_ in the college examination.--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 237.

CRIB. Probably a translation; a pony.

Of the "Odes and Epodes of Horace, translated literally and rhythmically" by W. Sewell, of Oxford, the editor of the Literary World remarks: "Useful as a '_crib_,' it is also poetical."--Vol. VIII. p. 28.

CROW'S-FOOT. At Harvard College a badge formerly worn on the sleeve, resembling a crow's foot, to denote the class to which a student belongs. In the regulations passed April 29, 1822, for establishing the style of dress among the students at Harvard College, we find the following. A part of the dress shall be "three crow's-feet, made of black silk cord, on the lower part of the sleeve of a Senior, two on that of a Junior, and one on that of a Sophomore." The Freshmen were not allowed to wear the crow's-foot, and the custom is now discontinued, although an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive it a few years ago.

The Freshman scampers off at the first bell for the chapel, where, finding no brother student of a higher class to encourage his punctuality, he crawls back to watch the starting of some one blessed with a _crow's-foot_, to act as vanguard.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 377.

The corded _crow's-feet_, and the collar square,
The change and chance of earthly lot must share.
_Class Poem at Harv. Coll._, 1835, p. 18.

What if the creature should arise,--
For he was stout and tall,--
And swallow down a Sophomore,
Coat, _crow's-foot_, cap, and all.
_Holmes's Poems_, 1850, p. 109.

CUE, KUE, Q. A small portion of bread or beer; a term formerly current in both the English universities, the letter q being the mark in the buttery books to denote such a piece. Q would seem to stand for _quadrans_, a farthing; but Minsheu says it was only half that sum, and thus particularly explains it: "Because they set down in the battling or butterie bookes in Oxford and Cambridge, the letter q for half a farthing; and in Oxford when they make that cue or q a farthing, they say, _cap my q_, and make it a farthing, thus, [Symbol: small q with a line over]. But in Cambridge they use this letter, a little f; thus, f, or thus, s, for a farthing." He translates it in Latin _calculus panis_. Coles has, "A _cue_ [half a farthing] minutum."--_Nares's Glossary_.

"A cue of bread," says Halliwell, "is the fourth part of a half-penny crust. A cue of beer, one draught."

J. Woods, under-butler of Christ Church, Oxon, said he would never sitt capping of _cues_.--_Urry's MS._ add. to Ray.

You are still at Cambridge with size _kue_.--_Orig. of Dr._, III. p. 271.

He never drank above size _q_ of Helicon.--_Eachard, Contempt of Cl._, p. 26.

"_Cues_ and _cees_," says Nares, "are generally mentioned together, the _cee_ meaning a small measure of beer; but why, is not equally explained." From certain passages in which they are used interchangeably, the terms do not seem to have been well defined.

Hee [the college butler] domineers over freshmen, when they first come to the hatch, and puzzles them with strange language of _cues_ and _cees_, and some broken Latin, which he has learnt at his bin.--_Earle's Micro-cosmographie_, (1628,) Char. 17.

The word _cue_ was formerly used at Harvard College. Dr. Holyoke, who graduated in 1746, says, the "breakfast was two sizings of bread and a _cue_ of beer." Judge Wingate, who graduated thirteen years after, says: "We were allowed at dinner a _cue_ of beer, which was a half-pint."

It is amusing to see, term after term, and year after year, the formal votes, passed by this venerable body of seven ruling and teaching elders, regulating the price at which a _cue_ (a half-pint) of cider, or a _sizing_ (ration) of bread, or beef, might be sold to the student by the butler.--_Eliot's Sketch of Hist. Harv. Coll._, p. 70.

CUP. Among the English Cantabs, "an odious mixture ... compounded of spice and cider."--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV. p. 239.

CURL. In the University of Virginia, to make a perfect recitation; to overwhelm a Professor with student learning.

CUT. To be absent from; to neglect. Thus, a person is said to "_cut_ prayers," to "_cut_ lecture," &c. Also, to "_cut_ Greek" or "Latin"; i.e. to be absent from the Greek or Latin recitation. Another use of the word is, when one says, "I _cut_ Dr. B----, or Prof. C----, this morning," meaning that he was absent from their exercises.

Prepare to _cut_ recitations, _cut_ prayers, _cut_ lectures,--ay, to _cut_ even the President himself.--_Oration before H.L. of I.O. of O.F._ 1848.

Next morn he _cuts_ his maiden prayer, to his last night's text abiding.--_Poem before Y.H. of Harv. Coll._, 1849.

As soon as we were Seniors,
We _cut_ the morning prayers,
We showed the Freshmen to the door,
And helped them down the stairs.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 15, 1854.

We speak not of individuals but of majorities, not of him whose ambition is to "_cut_" prayers and recitations so far as possible. --_Williams Quarterly_, Vol. II. p. 15.

The two rudimentary lectures which he was at first forced to attend, are now pressed less earnestly upon his notice. In fact, he can almost entirely "_cut_" them, if he likes, and does _cut_ them accordingly, as a waste of time,--_Household Words_, Vol. II. p. 160.

_To cut dead_, in student use, to neglect entirely.

I _cut_ the Algebra and Trigonometry papers _dead_ my first year, and came out seventh.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 51.

This word is much used in the University of Cambridge, England, as appears from the following extract from a letter in the Gentleman's Magazine, written with reference to some of the customs there observed:--"I remarked, also, that they frequently used the words _to cut_, and to sport, in senses to me totally unintelligible. A man had been cut in chapel, cut at afternoon lectures, cut in his tutor's rooms, cut at a concert, cut at a ball, &c. Soon, however, I was told of men, _vice versa_, who cut a figure, _cut_ chapel, _cut_ gates, _cut_ lectures, _cut_ hall, _cut_ examinations, cut particular connections; nay, more, I was informed of some who _cut_ their tutors!"--_Gent. Mag._, 1794, p. 1085.

The instances in which the verb _to cut_ is used in the above extract without Italics, are now very common both in England and America.

_To cut Gates_. To enter college after ten o'clock,--the hour of shutting them.--_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 40.

CUT. An omission of a recitation. This phrase is frequently heard: "We had a cut to-day in Greek," i.e. no recitation in Greek. Again, "Prof. D---- gave us a cut," i.e. he had no recitation. A correspondent from Bowdoin College gives, in the following sentence, the manner in which this word is there used:--"_Cuts_. When a class for any reason become dissatisfied with one of the Faculty, they absent themselves from his recitation, as an expression of their feelings"

_D_.

D.C.L. An abbreviation for _Doctor Civilis Legis_, Doctor in Civil Law. At the University of Oxford, England, this degree is conferred four years after receiving the degree of B.C.L. The exercises are three lectures. In the University of Cambridge, England, a D.C.L. must be a B.C.L. of five years' standing, or an M.A. of seven years' standing, and must have kept two acts.

D.D. An abbreviation of _Divinitatis Doctor_, Doctor in Divinity. At the University of Cambridge, England, this degree is conferred on a B.D. of five, or an M.A. of twelve years' standing. The exercises are one act, two opponencies, a clerum, and an English sermon. At Oxford it is given to a B.D. of four, or a regent M.A. of eleven years' standing. The exercises are three lectures. In American colleges this degree is honorary, and is conferred _pro meritis_ on those who are distinguished as theologians.

DEAD. To be unable to recite; to be ignorant of the lesson; to declare one's self unprepared to recite.

Be ready, in fine, to cut, to drink, to smoke, to _dead_.--_Oration before H.L. of I.O. of O.F._, 1848.

I see our whole lodge desperately striving to _dead_, by doing that hardest of all work, nothing.--_Ibid._, 1849.

_Transitively_; to cause one to fail in reciting. Said of a teacher who puzzles a scholar with difficult questions, and thereby causes him to fail.

Have I been screwed, yea, _deaded_ morn and eve,
Some dozen moons of this collegiate life,
And not yet taught me to philosophize?
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 255.

DEAD. A complete failure; a declaration that one is not prepared to recite.

One must stand up in the singleness of his ignorance to understand all the mysterious feelings connected with a _dead_.--_Harv. Reg._, p. 378.

And fearful of the morrow's screw or _dead_,
Takes book and candle underneath his bed.
_Class Poem, by B.D. Winslow, at Harv. Coll._, 1835, p. 10.

He, unmoved by Freshman's curses,
Loves the _deads_ which Freshmen make.--_MS. Poem_.

But oh! what aching heads had they!
What _deads_ they perpetrated the succeeding day.--_Ibid._

It was formerly customary in many colleges, and is now in a few, to talk about "taking a dead."

I have a most instinctive dread
Of getting up to _take a dead_,
Unworthy degradation!--_Harv. Reg._, p. 312.

DEAD-SET. The same as a DEAD, which see.

Now's the day and now's the hour;
See approach Old Sikes's power;
See the front of Logic lower;
Screws, _dead-sets_, and fines.--_Rebelliad_, p. 52.

Grose has this word in his Slang Dictionary, and defines it "a concerted scheme to defraud a person by gaming." "This phrase," says Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, "seems to be taken from the lifeless attitude of a pointer in marking his game."

"The lifeless attitude" seems to be the only point of resemblance between the above definitions, and the appearance of one who is _taking a dead set_. The word has of late years been displaced by the more general use of the word _dead_, with the same meaning.

The phrase _to be at a dead-set_, implying a fixed state or condition which precludes further progress, is in general use.

DEAN. An officer in each college of the universities in England, whose duties consist in the due preservation of the college discipline.

"Old Holingshed," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "in his Chronicles, describing Cambridge, speaks of 'certain censors, or _deanes_, appointed to looke to the behaviour and manner of the Students there, whom they punish _very severely_, if they make any default, according to the quantitye and qualitye of their trespasses.' When _flagellation_ was enforced at the universities, the Deans were the ministers of vengeance."

At the present time, a person applying for admission to a college in the University of Cambridge, Eng., is examined by the Dean and the Head Lecturer. "The Dean is the presiding officer in chapel, and the only one whose presence there is indispensable. He oversees the markers' lists, pulls up the absentees, and receives their excuses. This office is no sinecure in a large college." At Oxford "the discipline of a college is administered by its head, and by an officer usually called Dean, though, in some colleges, known by other names."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, pp. 12, 16. _Literary World_, Vol. XII. p. 223.

In the older American colleges, whipping and cuffing were inflicted by a tutor, professor, or president; the latter, however, usually employed an agent for this purpose.

See under CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.

2. In the United States, a registrar of the faculty in some colleges, and especially in medical institutions.--_Webster_.

A _dean_ may also be appointed by the Faculty of each Professional School, if deemed expedient by the Corporation.--_Laws Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 8.

3. The head or president of a college.

You rarely find yourself in a shop, or other place of public resort, with a Christ-Church-man, but he takes occasion, if young and frivolous, to talk loudly of the _Dean_, as an indirect expression of his own connection with this splendid college; the title of _Dean_ being exclusively attached to the headship of Christ Church.--_De Quincey's Life and Manners_, p. 245.

DEAN OF CONVOCATION. At Trinity College, Hartford, this officer presides in the _House of Convocation_, and is elected by the same, biennially.--_Calendar Trin. Coll._, 1850, p. 7.

DEAN'S BOUNTY. In 1730, the Rev. Dr. George Berkeley, then Dean of Derry, in Ireland, came to America, and resided a year or two at Newport, Rhode Island, "where," says Clap, in his History of Yale College, "he purchased a country seat, with about ninety-six acres of land." On his return to London, in 1733, he sent a deed of his farm in Rhode Island to Yale College, in which it was ordered, "that the rents of the farm should be appropriated to the maintenance of the three best scholars in Greek and Latin, who should reside at College at least nine months in a year, in each of the three years between their first and second degrees." President Clap further remarks, that "this premium has been a great incitement to a laudable ambition to excel in the knowledge of the classics." It was commonly known as the _Dean's bounty_.--_Clap's Hist. of Yale Coll._, pp. 37, 38.

The Dean afterwards conveyed to it [Yale College], by a deed transmitted to Dr. Johnson, his Rhode Island farm, for the establishment of that _Dean's bounty_, to which sound classical learning in Connecticut has been much indebted.--_Hist. Sketch of Columbia Coll._, p. 19.

DEAN SCHOLAR. The person who received the money appropriated by Dean Berkeley was called the _Dean scholar_.

This premium was formerly called the Dean's bounty, and the person who received it the _Dean scholar_.--_Sketches of Yale Coll._, p. 87.

DECENT. Tolerable; pretty good. He is a _decent_ scholar; a _decent_ writer; he is nothing more than _decent_. "This word," says Mr. Pickering, in his Vocabulary, "has been in common use at some of our colleges, but only in the language of conversation. The adverb _decently_ (and possibly the adjective also) is sometimes used in a similar manner in some parts of Great Britain."

The greater part of the pieces it contains may be said to be very _decently_ written.--_Edinb. Rev._, Vol. I. p. 426.

DECLAMATION. The word is applied especially to the public speaking and speeches of students in colleges, practised for exercises in oratory.--_Webster_.

It would appear by the following extract from the old laws of Harvard College, that original declamations were formerly required of the students. "The Undergraduates shall in their course declaim publicly in the hall, in one of the three learned languages; and in no other without leave or direction from the President, and immediately give up their declamations fairly written to the President. And he that neglects this exercise shall be punished by the President or Tutor that calls over the weekly bill, not exceeding five shillings. And such delinquent shall within one week after give in to the President a written declamation subscribed by himself."--_Laws 1734, in Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p. 129.

2. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., an essay upon a given subject, written in view of a prize, and publicly recited in the chapel of the college to which the writer belongs.

DECLAMATION BOARDS. At Bowdoin College, small establishments in the rear of each building, for urinary purposes.

DEDUCTION. In some of the American colleges, one of the minor punishments for non-conformity with laws and regulations is deducting from the marks which a student receives for recitations and other exercises, and by which his standing in the class is determined.

Soften down the intense feeling with which he relates heroic Rapid's _deductions_.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 267.

2. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., an original proposition in geometry.

"How much Euclid did you do? Fifteen?"

"No, fourteen; one of them was a _deduction_."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 75.

With a mathematical tutor, the hour of tuition is a sort of familiar examination, working out examples, _deductions_, &c.--_Ibid._, pp. 18, 19.

DEGRADATION. In the older American colleges, it was formerly customary to arrange the members of each class in an order determined by the rank of the parent. "Degradation consisted in placing a student on the list, in consequence of some offence, below the level to which his father's condition would assign him; and thus declared that he had disgraced his family."

In the Immediate Government Book, No. IV., of Harvard College, date July 20th, 1776, is the following entry: "Voted, that Trumbal, a Middle Bachelor, who was degraded to the bottom of his class for his misdemeanors when an undergraduate, having presented an humble confession of his faults, with a petition to be restored to his place in the class in the Catalogue now printing, be restored agreeable to his request." The Triennial Catalogue for that year was the first in which the names of the students appeared in an alphabetical order. The class of 1773 was the first in which the change was made.

"The punishment of degradation," says President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse before the Graduates of Yale College, "laid aside not very long before the beginning of the Revolutionary war, was still more characteristic of the times. It was a method of acting upon the aristocratic feelings of family; and we at this day can hardly conceive to what extent the social distinctions were then acknowledged and cherished. In the manuscript laws of the infant College, we find the following regulation, which was borrowed from an early ordinance of Harvard under President Dunster. 'Every student shall be called by his surname, except he be the son of a nobleman, or a knight's eldest son.' I know not whether such a 'rara avis in terris' ever received the honors of the College; but a kind of colonial, untitled aristocracy grew up, composed of the families of chief magistrates, and of other civilians and ministers. In the second year of college life, precedency according to the aristocratic scale was determined, and the arrangement of names on the class roll was in accordance. This appears on our Triennial Catalogue until 1768, when the minds of men began to be imbued with the notion of equality. Thus, for instance, Gurdon Saltonstall, son of the Governor of that name, and descendant of Sir Richard, the first emigrant of the family, heads the class of 1725, and names of the same stock begin the lists of 1752 and 1756. It must have been a pretty delicate matter to decide precedence in a multitude of cases, as in that of the sons of members of the Council or of ministers, to which class many of the scholars belonged. The story used to circulate, as I dare say many of the older graduates remember, that a shoemaker's son, being questioned as to the quality of his father, replied, that _he was upon the bench_, which gave him, of course, a high place."--pp. 48, 49.

See under PLACE.

DEGRADE. At the English universities to go back a year.

"'_Degrading_,' or going back a year," says Bristed, "is not allowed except in case of illness (proved by a doctor's certificate). A man _degrading_ for any other reason cannot go out afterwards in honors."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 98.

I could choose the year below without formally _degrading_.--_Ibid._, p. 157.