Chapter III (6)

In the revised laws of Harvard College, printed in the year 1790, was one for the purpose of introducing examinations, the first part of which is as follows: "To animate the students in the pursuit of literary merit and fame, and to excite in their breasts a noble spirit of emulation, there shall be annually a public examination, in the presence of a joint committee of the Corporation and Overseers, and such other gentlemen as may be inclined to attend it." It then proceeds to enumerate the times and text-books for each class, and closes by stating, that, "should any student neglect or refuse to attend such examination, he shall be liable to be fined a sum not exceeding twenty shillings, or to be admonished or suspended." Great discontent was immediately evinced by the students at this regulation, and as it was not with this understanding that they entered college, they considered it as an _ex post facto_ law, and therefore not binding upon them. With these views, in the year 1791, the Senior and Junior Classes petitioned for exemption from the examination, but their application was rejected by the Overseers. When this was declared, some of the students determined to stop the exercises for that year, if possible. For this purpose they obtained six hundred grains of tartar emetic, and early on the morning of April 12th, the day on which the examination was to begin, emptied it into the great cooking boilers in the kitchen. At breakfast, 150 or more students and officers being present, the coffee was brought on, made with the water from the boilers. Its effects were soon visible. One after another left the hall, some in a slow, others in a hurried manner, but all plainly showing that their situation was by no means a pleasant one. Out of the whole number there assembled, only four or five escaped without being made unwell. Those who put the drug in the coffee had drank the most, in order to escape detection, and were consequently the most severely affected. Unluckily, one of them was seen putting something into the boilers, and the names of the others were soon after discovered. Their punishment is stated in the following memoranda from a manuscript journal.

"Exhibition, 1791. April 20th. This morning Trapier was rusticated and Sullivan suspended to Groton for nine months, for mingling tartar emetic with our commons on ye morning of April 12th."

"May 21st. Ely was suspended to Amherst for five months, for assisting Sullivan and Trapier in mingling tartar emetic with our commons."

Another student, who threw a stone into the examination-room, which struck the chair in which Governor Hancock sat, was more severely punished. The circumstance is mentioned in the manuscript referred to above as follows:--

"April 14th, 1791. Henry W. Jones of H---- was expelled from College upon evidence of a little boy that he sent a stone into ye Philosopher's room while a committee of ye Corporation and Overseers, and all ye Immediate Government, were engaged in examination of ye Freshman Class."

Although the examination was delayed for a day or two on account of these occurrences, it was again renewed and carried on during that year, although many attempts were made to stop it. For several years after, whenever these periods occurred, disturbances came with them, and it was not until the year 1797 that the differences between the officers and the students were satisfactorily adjusted, and examinations established on a sure basis.

EXAMINE. To inquire into the improvements or qualifications of students, by interrogatories, proposing problems, or by hearing their recitals; as, to _examine_ the classes in college; to _examine_ the candidates for a degree, or for a license to preach or to practise in a profession.--_Webster_.

EXAMINEE. One who is examined; one who undergoes at examination.

What loads of cold beef and lobster vanish before the _examinees_. --_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 72.

EXAMINER. One who examines. In colleges and seminaries of learning, the person who interrogates the students, proposes questions for them to answer, and problems to solve.

Coming forward with assumed carelessness, he threw towards us the formal reply of his _examiners_.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 9.

EXEAT. Latin; literally, _let him depart_. Leave of absence given to a student in the English universities.--_Webster_.

The students who wish to go home apply for an "_Exeat_," which is a paper signed by the Tutor, Master, and Dean.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 162.

[At King's College], _exeats_, or permission to go down during term, were never granted but in cases of life and death.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 140.

EXERCISE. A task or lesson; that which is appointed for one to perform. In colleges, all the literary duties are called _exercises_.

It may be inquired, whether a great part of the _exercises_ be not at best but serious follies.--_Cotton Mather's Suggestions_, in _Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 558.

In the English universities, certain exercises, as acts, opponencies, &c., are required to be performed for particular degrees.

EXHIBIT. To take part in an exhibition; to speak in public at an exhibition or commencement.

No student who shall receive any appointment to _exhibit_ before the class, the College, or the public, shall give any treat or entertainment to his class, or any part thereof, for or on account of those appointments.--_Laws Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 29.

If any student shall fail to perform the exercise assigned him, or shall _exhibit_ anything not allowed by the Faculty, he may be sent home.--_Ibid._, 1837, p. 16.

2. To provide for poor students by an exhibition. (See EXHIBITION, second meaning.) An instance of this use is given in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, where one Antony Wood says of Bishop Longland, "He was a special friend to the University, in maintaining its privileges and in _exhibiting_ to the wants of certain scholars." In Mr. Peirce's History of Harvard University occurs this passage, in an account of the will of the Hon. William Stoughton: "He bequeathed a pasture in Dorchester, containing twenty-three acres and four acres of marsh, 'the income of both to be _exhibited_, in the first place, to a scholar of the town of Dorchester, and if there be none such, to one of the town of Milton, and in want of such, then to any other well deserving that shall be most needy.'" --p. 77.

EXHIBITION. In colleges, a public literary and oratorical display. The exercises at _exhibitions_ are original compositions, prose translations from the English into Greek and Latin, and from other languages into the English, metrical versions, dialogues, &c.

At Harvard College, in the year 1760, it was voted, "that twice in a year, in the spring and fall, each class should recite to their Tutors, in the presence of the President, Professors, and Tutors, in the several books in which they are reciting to their respective Tutors, and that publicly in the College Hall or Chapel." The next year, the Overseers being informed "that the students are not required to translate English into Latin nor Latin into English," their committee "thought it would be convenient that specimens of such translations and other performances in classical and polite literature should be from time to time laid before" their board. A vote passed the Board of Overseers recommending to the Corporation a conformity to these suggestions; but it was not until the year 1766 that a law was formally enacted in both boards, "that twice in the year, viz. at the semiannual visitation of the committee of the Overseers, some of the scholars, at the direction of the President and Tutors, shall publicly exhibit specimens of their proficiency, by pronouncing orations and delivering dialogues, either in English or in one of the learned languages, or hearing a forensic disputation, or such other exercises as the President and Tutors shall direct."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. II. pp. 128-132.

A few years after this, two more exhibitions were added, and were so arranged as to fall one in each quarter of the College year. The last year in which there were four exhibitions was 1789. After this time there were three exhibitions during the year until 1849, when one was omitted, since which time the original plan has been adopted.

In the journal of a member of the class which graduated at Harvard College in the year 1793, under the date of December 23d, 1789, Exhibition, is the following memorandum: "Music was intermingled with elocution, which (we read) has charms to soothe even a savage breast." Again, on a similar occasion, April 13th, 1790, an account of the exercises of the day closes with this note: "Tender music being interspersed to enliven the audience." Vocal music was sometimes introduced. In the same Journal, date October 1st, 1790, Exhibition, the writer says: "The performances were enlivened with an excellent piece of music, sung by Harvard Singing Club, accompanied with a band of music." From this time to the present day, music, either vocal or instrumental, has formed a very entertaining part of the Exhibition performances.[24]

The exercises for exhibitions are assigned by the Faculty to meritorious students, usually of the two higher classes. The exhibitions are held under the direction of the President, and a refusal to perform the part assigned is regarded as a high offence.--_Laws of Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 19. _Laws Yale Coll._, 1837, p. 16.

2. Allowance of meat and drink; pension; benefaction settled for the maintenance of scholars in the English Universities, not depending on the foundation.--_Encyc._

What maintenance he from his friends receives,
Like _exhibition_ thou shalt have from me.
_Two Gent. Verona_, Act. I. Sc. 3.

This word was formerly used in American colleges.

I order and appoint ... ten pounds a year for one _exhibition_, to assist one pious young man.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 530.

As to the extending the time of his _exhibitions_, we agree to it. --_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 532.

In the yearly "Statement of the Treasurer" of Harvard College, the word is still retained.

"A _school exhibition_," says a writer in the Literary World, with reference to England, "is a stipend given to the head boys of a school, conditional on their proceeding to some particular college in one of the universities."--Vol. XII. p. 285.

EXHIBITIONER. One who has a pension or allowance, granted for the encouragement of learning; one who enjoys an exhibition. Used principally in the English universities.

2. One who performs a part at an exhibition in American colleges is sometimes called an _exhibitioner_.

EXPEL. In college government, to command to leave; to dissolve the connection of a student; to interdict him from further connection. --_Webster_.

EXPULSION. In college government, expulsion is the highest censure, and is a final separation from the college or university. --_Coll. Laws_.

In the Diary of Mr. Leverett, who was President of Harvard College from 1707 to 1724, is an account of the manner in which the punishment of expulsion was then inflicted. It is as follows:--"In the College Hall the President, after morning prayers, the Fellows, Masters of Art, and the several classes of Undergraduates being present, after a full opening of the crimes of the delinquents, a pathetic admonition of them, and solemn obtestation and caution to the scholars, pronounced the sentence of expulsion, ordered their names to be rent off the tables, and them to depart the Hall."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 442.

In England, "an expelled man," says Bristed, "is shut out from the learned professions, as well as from all Colleges at either University."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 131.

_F_.

FACILITIES. The means by which the performance of anything is rendered easy.--_Webster_.

Among students, a general name for what are technically called _ponies_ or translations.

All such subsidiary helps in learning lessons, he classed ... under the opprobrious name of "_facilities_," and never scrupled to seize them as contraband goods.--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, p. lxxvii.

FACULTY. In colleges, the masters and professors of the several sciences.--_Johnson_.

In America, the _faculty_ of a college or university consists of the president, professors, and tutors.--_Webster_.

The duties of the faculty are very extended. They have the general control and direction of the studies pursued in the college. They have cognizance of all offences committed by undergraduates, and it is their special duty to enforce the observance of all the laws and regulations for maintaining discipline, and promoting good order, virtue, piety, and good learning in the institution with which they are connected. The faculty hold meetings to communicate and compare their opinions and information, respecting the conduct and character of the students and the state of the college; to decide upon the petitions or requests which may be offered them by the members of college, and to consider and suggest such measures as may tend to the advancement of learning, and the improvement of the college. This assembly is called a _Faculty-meeting_, a word very often in the mouths of students.--_Coll. Laws_.

2. One of the members or departments of a university.

"In the origin of the University of Paris," says Brande, "the seven liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music) seem to have been the subjects of academic instruction. These constituted what was afterwards designated the Faculty of Arts. Three other faculties--those of divinity, law, and medicine--were subsequently added. In all these four, lectures were given, and degrees conferred by the University. The four Faculties were transplanted to Oxford and Cambridge, where they are still retained; although, in point of fact, the faculty of arts is the only one in which substantial instruction is communicated in the academical course."--_Brande's Dict._, Art. FACULTY.

In some American colleges, these four departments are established, and sometimes a fifth, the Scientific, is added.

FAG. Scotch, _faik_, to fail, to languish. Ancient Swedish, _wik-a_, cedere. To drudge; to labor to weariness; to become weary.

2. To study hard; to persevere in study.

Place me 'midst every toil and care,
A hapless undergraduate still,
To _fag_ at mathematics dire, &c.
_Gradus ad Cantab._, p. 8.

Dee, the famous mathematician, appears to have _fagged_ as intensely as any man at Cambridge. For three years, he declares, he only slept four hours a night, and allowed two hours for refreshment. The remaining eighteen hours were spent in study.--_Ibid._, p. 48.

How did ye toil, and _fagg_, and fume, and fret,
And--what the bashful muse would blush to say.
But, now, your painful tremors are all o'er,
Cloath'd in the glories of a full-sleev'd gown,
Ye strut majestically up and down,
And now ye _fagg_, and now ye fear, no more!
_Gent. Mag._, 1795, p. 20.

FAG. A laborious drudge; a drudge for another. In colleges and schools, this term is applied to a boy of a lower form who is forced to do menial services for another boy of a higher form or class.

But who are those three by-standers, that have such an air of submission and awe in their countenances? They are _fags_,--Freshmen, poor fellows, called out of their beds, and shivering with fear in the apprehension of missing morning prayers, to wait upon their lords the Sophomores in their midnight revellings.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. II. p. 106.

His _fag_ he had well-nigh killed by a blow.
_Wallenstein in Bohn's Stand. Lib._, p. 155.

A sixth-form schoolboy is not a little astonished to find his _fags_ becoming his masters.--_Lond. Quar. Rev._, Am. Ed., Vol. LXXIII, p. 53.

Under the title FRESHMAN SERVITUDE will be found as account of the manner in which members of that class were formerly treated in the older American colleges.

2. A diligent student, i.e. a _dig_.

FAG. Time spent in, or period of, studying.

The afternoon's _fag_ is a pretty considerable one, lasting from three till dark.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 248.

After another _hard fag_ of a week or two, a land excursion would be proposed.--_Ibid._, Vol. II. p. 56.

FAGGING. Laborious drudgery; the acting as a drudge for another at a college or school.

2. Studying hard, equivalent to _digging, grubbing, &c._

Thrice happy ye, through toil and dangers past,
Who rest upon that peaceful shore,
Where all your _fagging_ is no more,
And gain the long-expected port at last.
_Gent. Mag._, 1795, p. 19.

To _fagging_ I set to, therefore, with as keen a relish as ever alderman sat down to turtle.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 123.

See what I pay for liberty to leave school early, and to figure in every ball-room in the country, and see the world, instead of _fagging_ at college.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 307.

FAIR HARVARD. At the celebration of the era of the second century from the origin of Harvard College, which was held at Cambridge, September 8th, 1836, the following Ode, written by the Rev. Samuel Gilman, D.D., of Charleston, S.C., was sung to the air, "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms."

"FAIR HARVARD! thy sons to thy Jubilee throng,
And with blessings surrender thee o'er,
By these festival-rites, from the Age that is past,
To the Age that is waiting before.
O Relic and Type of our ancestors' worth,
That hast long kept their memory warm!
First flower of their wilderness! Star of their night,
Calm rising through change and through storm!

"To thy bowers we were led in the bloom of our youth,
From the home of our free-roving years,
When our fathers had warned, and our mothers had prayed,
And our sisters had blest, through their tears.
_Thou_ then wert our parent,--the nurse of our souls,--
We were moulded to manhood by thee,
Till, freighted with treasure-thoughts, friendships, and hopes,
Thou didst launch us on Destiny's sea.

"When, as pilgrims, we come to revisit thy halls,
To what kindlings the season gives birth!
Thy shades are more soothing, thy sunlight more dear,
Than descend on less privileged earth:
For the Good and the Great, in their beautiful prime,
Through thy precincts have musingly trod,
As they girded their spirits, or deepened the streams
That make glad the fair City of God.

"Farewell! be thy destinies onward and bright!
To thy children the lesson still give,
With freedom to think, and with patience to bear,
And for right ever bravely to live.
Let not moss-covered Error moor _thee_ at its side,
As the world on Truth's current glides by;
Be the herald of Light, and the bearer of Love,
Till the stock of the Puritans die."

Since the occasion on which this ode was sung, it has been the practice with the odists of Class Day at Harvard College to write the farewell class song to the tune of "Fair Harvard," the name by which the Irish air "Believe me" has been adopted. The deep pathos of this melody renders it peculiarly appropriate to the circumstances with which it has been so happily connected, and from which it is to be hoped it may never be severed.

See CLASS DAY.

FAIR LICK. In the game of football, when the ball is fairly caught or kicked beyond the bounds, the cry usually heard, is _Fair lick! Fair lick!_

"_Fair lick_!" he cried, and raised his dreadful foot,
Armed at all points with the ancestral boot.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. IV. p. 22.

See FOOTBALL.

FANTASTICS. At Princeton College, an exhibition on Commencement evening, of a number of students on horseback, fantastically dressed in masks, &c.

FAST. An epithet of one who is showy in dress, expensive or apparently so in his mode of living, and inclined to spree. Formerly used exclusively among students; now of more general application.

Speaking of the student signification of the word, Bristed remarks: "A _fast man_ is not necessarily (like the London fast man) a _rowing_ man, though the two attributes are often combined in the same person; he is one who dresses flashily, talks big, and spends, or affects to spend, money very freely."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 23.

The _Fast_ Man comes, with reeling tread,
Cigar in mouth, and swimming head.
_MS. Poem_, F.E. Felton.

FAT. At Princeton College, a letter with money or a draft is thus denominated.

FATHER or PRÆLECTOR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., one of the fellows of a college, who attends all the examinations for the Bachelor's degree, to see that justice is done to the candidates from his own college, who are at that time called his _sons_.--_Gradus ad Cantab._

The _Fathers_ of the respective colleges, zealous for the credit of the societies of which they are the guardians, are incessantly employed in examining those students who appear most likely to contest the palm of glory with their _sons_.--_Gent. Mag._, 1773, p. 435.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND. At Shelby, Centre, and Bacon Colleges, in Kentucky, it is customary to select the best orators and speakers from the different literary societies to deliver addresses on the twenty-second of February, in commemoration of the birthday of Washington. At Bethany College, in Virginia, this day is observed in a similar manner.

FEEZE. Usually spelled PHEEZE, q.v.

Under FLOP, another, but probably a wrong or obsolete, signification is given.

FELLOW. A member of a corporation; a trustee. In the English universities, a residence at the college, engagement in instruction, and receiving therefor a stipend, are essential requisites to the character of a _fellow_. In American colleges, it is not necessary that a _fellow_ should be a resident, a stipendiary, or an instructor. In most cases the greater number of the _Fellows of the Corporation_ are non-residents, and have no part in the instruction at the college.

With reference to the University of Cambridge, Eng., Bristed remarks: "The Fellows, who form the general body from which the other college officers are chosen, consist of those four or five Bachelor Scholars in each year who pass the best examination in classics, mathematics, and metaphysics. This examination being a severe one, and only the last of many trials which they have gone through, the inference is allowable that they are the most learned of the College graduates. They have a handsome income, whether resident or not; but if resident, enjoy the additional advantages of a well-spread table for nothing, and good rooms at a very low price. The only conditions of retaining their Fellowships are, that they take orders after a certain time and remain unmarried. Of those who do not fill college offices, some occupy themselves with private pupils; others, who have property of their own, prefer to live a life of literary leisure, like some of their predecessors, the monks of old. The eight oldest Fellows at any time in residence, together with the Master, have the government of the college vested in them."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 16.

For some remarks on the word Fellow, see under the title COLLEGE.

FELLOW-COMMONER. In the University of Cambridge, England, _Fellow-Commoners_ are generally the younger sons of the nobility, or young men of fortune, and have the privilege of dining at the Fellows' table, whence the appellation originated.

"Fellow-Commoners," says Bristed, "are 'young men of fortune,' as the _Cambridge Calendar_ and _Cambridge Guide_ have it, who, in consideration of their paying twice as much for everything as anybody else, are allowed the privilege of sitting at the Fellows' table in hall, and in their seats at chapel; of wearing a gown with gold or silver lace, and a velvet cap with a metallic tassel; of having the first choice of rooms; and as is generally believed, and believed not without reason, of getting off with a less number of chapels per week. Among them are included the Honorables _not_ eldest sons,--only these wear a hat instead of the velvet cap, and are thence popularly known as _Hat_ Fellow-Commoners."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 13.

A _Fellow-Commoner_ at Cambridge is equivalent to an Oxford _Gentleman-Commoner_, and is in all respects similar to what in private schools and seminaries is called a _parlor boarder_. A fuller account of this, the first rank at the University, will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1795, p. 20, and in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, p. 50.

"Fellow-Commoners have been nicknamed '_Empty Bottles_'! They have been called, likewise, 'Useless Members'! 'The licensed Sons of Ignorance.'"--_Gradus ad Cantab._

The Fellow-Commoners, alias _empty bottles_, (not so called because they've let out anything during the examination,) are then presented.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. II. p. 101.

In the old laws of Harvard College we find the following: "None shall be admitted a _Fellow-Commoner_ unless he first pay thirteen pounds six and eight pence to the college. And every _Fellow-Commoner_ shall pay double tuition money. They shall have the privilege of dining and supping with the Fellows at their table in the hall; they shall be excused from going on errands, and shall have the title of Masters, and have the privilege of wearing their hats as the Masters do; but shall attend all duties and exercises with the rest of their class, and be alike subject to the laws and government of the College," &c. The Hon. Paine Wingate, a graduate of the class of 1759, says in reference to this subject: "I never heard anything about _Fellow-Commoners_ in college excepting in this paragraph. I am satisfied there has been no such description of scholars at Cambridge since I have known anything about the place."--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Coll._, p. 314.

In the Appendix to "A Sketch of the History of Harvard College," by Samuel A. Eliot, is a memorandum, in the list of donations to that institution, under the date 1683, to this effect. "Mr. Joseph Brown, Mr. Edward Page, Mr. Francis Wainwright, _fellow-commoners_, gave each a silver goblet." Mr. Wainwright graduated in 1686. The other two do not appear to have received a degree. All things considered, it is probable that this order, although introduced from the University of Cambridge, England, into Harvard College, received but few members, on account of the evil influence which such distinctions usually exert.

FELLOW OF THE HOUSE. See under HOUSE.

FELLOW, RESIDENT. At Harvard College, the tutors were formerly called _resident fellows_.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 278.

The _resident fellows_ were tutors to the classes, and instructed them in Hebrew, "and led them through all the liberal arts before the four years were expired."--_Harv. Reg._, p. 249.

FELLOWSHIP. An establishment in colleges, for the maintenance of a fellow.--_Webster_.

In Harvard College, tutors were formerly called Fellows of the House or College, and their office, _fellowships_. In this sense that word is used in the following passage.

Joseph Stevens was chosen "Fellow of the College, or House," and as such was approved by that board [the Corporation], in the language of the records, "to supply a vacancy in one of the _Fellowships_ of the House."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I. p. 279.

FELLOWS' ORCHARD. See TUTORS' PASTURE.

FEMUR. Latin; _a thigh-bone_. At Yale College, a _femur_ was formerly the badge of a medical bully.

When hand in hand all joined in band,
With clubs, umbrellas, _femurs_,
Declaring death and broken teeth
'Gainst blacksmiths, cobblers, seamers.
_The Crayon_, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 14.

"One hundred valiant warriors, who
(My Captain bid me say)
Three _femurs_ wield, with one to fight,
With two to run away,

"Wait in Scull Castle, to receive,
With open gates, your men;
Their right arms nerved, their _femurs_ clenched,
Safe to protect ye then!"--_Ibid._, p. 23.

FERG. To lose the heat of excitement or passion; to become less angry, ardent; to cool. A correspondent from the University of Vermont, where this word is used, says: "If a man gets angry, we 'let him _ferg_,' and he feels better."

FESS. Probably abbreviated for CONFESS. In some of the Southern Colleges, to fail in reciting; to silently request the teacher not to put farther queries.

This word is in use among the cadets at West Point, with the same meaning.

And when you and I, and Benny, and General Jackson too,
Are brought before a final board our course of life to view,
May we never "_fess_" on any "point," but then be told to go
To join the army of the blest, with Benny Havens, O!
_Song, Benny Havens, O!_

FINES. In many of the colleges in the United States it was formerly customary to impose fines upon the students as a punishment for non-compliance with the laws. The practice is now very generally abolished.

About the middle of the eighteenth century, the custom of punishing by pecuniary mulets began, at Harvard College, to be considered objectionable. "Although," says Quincy, "little regarded by the students, they were very annoying to their parents." A list of the fines which were imposed on students at that period presents a curious aggregate of offences and punishments.

£ s. d. Absence from prayers, 0 0 2 Tardiness at prayers, 0 0 1 Absence from Professor's public lecture, 0 0 4 Tardiness at do. 0 0 2 Profanation of Lord's day, not exceeding 0 3 0 Absence from public worship, 0 0 9 Tardiness at do. 0 0 3 Ill behavior at do. not exceeding 0 1 6 Going to meeting before bell-ringing, 0 0 6 Neglecting to repeat the sermon, 0 0 9 Irreverent behavior at prayers, or public divinity lectures, 0 1 6 Absence from chambers, &c., not exceeding 0 0 6 Not declaiming, not exceeding 0 1 6 Not giving up a declamation, not exceeding 0 1 6 Absence from recitation, not exceeding 0 1 6 Neglecting analyzing, not exceeding 0 3 0 Bachelors neglecting disputations, not exceeding 0 1 6 Respondents neglecting do. from 1s. 6d. to 0 3 0 Undergraduates out of town without leave, not exceeding 0 2 6 Undergraduates tarrying out of town without leave, not exceeding _per diem_, 0 1 3 Undergraduates tarrying out of town one week without leave, not exceeding 0 10 0 Undergraduates tarrying out of town one month without leave, not exceeding 2 10 0 Lodging strangers without leave, not exceeding 0 1 6 Entertaining persons of ill character, not exceeding 0 1 6 Going out of College without proper garb, not exceeding 0 0 6 Frequenting taverns, not exceeding 0 1 6 Profane cursing, not exceeding 0 2 6 Graduates playing cards, not exceeding 0 5 0 Undergraduates playing cards, not exceeding 0 2 6 Undergraduates playing any game for money, not exceeding 0 1 6 Selling and exchanging without leave, not exceeding 0 1 6 Lying, not exceeding 0 1 6 Opening door by pick-locks, not exceeding 0 5 0 Drunkenness, not exceeding 0 1 6 Liquors prohibited under penalty, not exceeding 0 1 6 Second offence, not exceeding 0 3 0 Keeping prohibited liquors, not exceeding 0 1 6 Sending for do. 0 0 6 Fetching do. 0 1 6 Going upon the top of the College, 0 1 6 Cutting off the lead, 0 1 6 Concealing the transgression of the 19th Law,[25] 0 1 6 Tumultuous noises, 0 1 6 Second offence, 0 3 0 Refusing to give evidence, 0 3 0 Rudeness at meals, 0 1 0 Butler and cook to keep utensils clean, not exceeding 0 5 0 Not lodging at their chambers, not exceeding 0 1 6 Sending Freshmen in studying time, 0 0 9 Keeping guns, and going on skating, 0 1 0 Firing guns or pistols in College yard, 0 2 6 Fighting or hurting any person, not exceeding 0 1 6

In 1761, a committee, of which Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson was a member, was appointed to consider of some other method of punishing offenders. Although they did not altogether abolish mulets, yet "they proposed that, in lieu of an increase of mulcts, absences without justifiable cause from any exercise of the College should subject the delinquent to warning, private admonition, exhortation to duty, and public admonition, with a notification to parents; when recitations had been omitted, performance of them should be exacted at some other time; and, by way of punishment for disorders, confinement, and the performance of exercises during its continuance, should be enjoined."--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. II. pp. 135, 136.

By the laws of 1798, fines not exceeding one dollar were imposed by a Professor or Tutor, or the Librarian; not exceeding two dollars, by the President; all above two dollars, by the President, Professors, and Tutors, at a meeting.

Upon this subject, with reference to Harvard College, Professor Sidney Willard remarks: "For a long period fines constituted the punishment of undergraduates for negligence in attendance at the exercises and in the performance of the lessons assigned to them. A fine was the lowest degree in the gradation of punishment. This mode of punishment or disapprobation was liable to objections, as a tax on the father rather than a rebuke of the son, (except it might be, in some cases, for the indirect moral influence produced upon the latter, operating on his filial feeling,) and as a mercenary exaction, since the money went into the treasury of the College. It was a good day for the College when this punishment through the purse was abandoned as a part of the system of punishments; which, not confined to neglect of study, had been extended also to a variety of misdemeanors more or less aggravated and aggravating."--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, Vol. I. p. 304.

"Of fines," says President Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse relating to Yale College, "the laws are full, and other documents show that the laws did not sleep. Thus there was in 1748 a fine of a penny for the absence of an undergraduate from prayers, and of a half-penny for tardiness or coming in after the introductory collect; of fourpence for absence from public worship; of from two to six pence for absence from one's chamber during the time of study; of one shilling for picking open a lock the first time, and two shillings the second; of two and sixpence for playing at cards or dice, or for bringing strong liquor into College; of one shilling for doing damage to the College, or jumping out of the windows,--and so in many other cases.

"In the year 1759, a somewhat unfair pamphlet was written, which gave occasion to several others in quick succession, wherein, amidst other complaints of President Clap's administration, mention is made of the large amount of fines imposed upon students. The author, after mentioning that in three years' time over one hundred and seventy-two pounds of lawful money was collected in this way, goes on to add, that 'such an exorbitant collection by fines tempts one to suspect that they have got together a most disorderly set of young men training up for the service of the churches, or that they are governed and corrected chiefly by pecuniary punishments;--that almost all sins in that society are purged and atoned for by money.' He adds, with justice, that these fines do not fall on the persons of the offenders,--most of the students being minors,--but upon their parents; and that the practice takes place chiefly where there is the least prospect of working a reformation, since the thoughtless and extravagant, being the principal offenders against College law, would not lay it to heart if their frolics should cost them a little more by way of fine. He further expresses his opinion, that this way of punishing the children of the College has but little tendency to better their hearts and reform their manners; that pecuniary impositions act only by touching the shame or covetousness or necessities of those upon whom they are levied; and that fines had ceased to become dishonorable at College, while to appeal to the love of money was expelling one devil by another, and to restrain the necessitous by fear of fine would be extremely cruel and unequal. These and other considerations are very properly urged, and the same feeling is manifested in the laws by the gradual abolition of nearly all pecuniary mulcts. The practice, it ought to be added, was by no means peculiar to Yale College, but was transferred, even in a milder form, from the colleges of England."--pp. 47, 48.

In connection with this subject, it may not be inappropriate to mention the following occurrence, which is said to have taken place at Harvard College.

Dr. ----, _in propria persona_, called upon a Southern student one morning in the recitation-room to define logic. The question was something in this form. "Mr. ----, what is logic?" Ans. "Logic, Sir, is the art of reasoning." "Ay; but I wish you to give the definition in the exact words of the _learned author_." "O, Sir, he gives a very long, intricate, confused definition, with which I did not think proper to burden my memory." "Are you aware who the learned author is?" "O, yes! your honor, Sir." "Well, then, I fine you one dollar for disrespect." Taking out a two-dollar note, the student said, with the utmost _sang froid_, "If you will change this, I will pay you on the spot." "I fine you another dollar," said the Professor, emphatically, "for repeated disrespect." "Then 'tis just the change, Sir," said the student, coolly.

FIRST-YEAR MEN. In the University of Cambridge, England, the title of _First-Year Men_, or _Freshmen_, is given to students during the first year of their residence at the University.

FISH. At Harvard College, to seek or gain the good-will of an instructor by flattery, caresses, kindness, or officious civilities; to curry favor. The German word _fischen_ has a secondary meaning, to get by cunning, which is similar to the English word _fish_. Students speak of fishing for parts, appointments, ranks, marks, &c.

I give to those that _fish for parts_,
Long, sleepless nights, and aching hearts,
A little soul, a fawning spirit,
With half a grain of plodding merit,
Which is, as Heaven I hope will say,
Giving what's not my own away.
_Will of Charles Prentiss, in Rural Repository_, 1795.

Who would let a Tutor knave
Screw him like a Guinea slave!
Who would _fish_ a fine to save!
Let him turn and flee.--_Rebelliad_, p. 35.

Did I not promise those who _fished_
And pimped most, any part they wished?--_Ibid._, p. 33.

'T is all well here; though 't were a grand mistake
To write so, should one "_fish_" for a "forty-eight!"
_Childe Harvard_, p. 33.

Still achieving, still intriguing,
Learn to labor and to _fish_.
_Poem before Y.H._, 1849.

The following passage explains more clearly, perhaps, the meaning of this word. "Any attempt to raise your standing by ingratiating yourself with the instructors, will not only be useless, but dishonorable. Of course, in your intercourse with the Professors and Tutors, you will not be wanting in that respect and courtesy which is due to them, both as your superiors and as gentlemen."--_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 79.

Washington Allston, who graduated at Harvard College in the year 1800, left a painting of a fishing scene, to be transmitted from class to class. It was in existence in the year 1828, but has disappeared of late.

FISH, FISHER. One who attempts to ingratiate himself with his instructor, thereby to obtain favor or advantage; one who curries favor.

You besought me to respect my teachers, and to be attentive to my studies, though it shall procure me the odious title of a "_fisher_."--_Monthly Anthology_, Boston, 1804, Vol. I. p. 153.

FISHING. The act performed by a _fisher_. The full force of this word is set forth in a letter from Dr. Popkin, a Professor at Harvard College, to his brother William, dated Boston, October 17th, 1800.

"I am sensible that the good conduct which I have advised you, and which, I doubt not, you are inclined to preserve, may expose you to the opprobrious epithet, _fishing_. You undoubtedly understand, by this time, the meaning of that frightful term, which has done more damage in college than all the bad wine, and roasted pigs, that have ever fired the frenzy of Genius! The meaning of it, in short, is nothing less than this, that every one who acts as a reasonable being in the various relations and duties of a scholar is using the basest means to ingratiate himself with the government, and seeking by mean compliances to purchase their honors and favors. At least, I thought this to be true when I was in the government. If times and manners are altered, I am heartily glad of it; but it will not injure you to hear the tales of former times. If a scholar appeared to perform his exercises to his best ability, if there were not a marked contempt and indifference in his manner, I would hear the whisper run round the class, _fishing_. If one appeared firm enough to perform an unpopular duty, or showed common civility to his instructors, who certainly wished him well, he was _fishing_. If he refused to join in some general disorder, he was insulted with _fishing_. If he did not appear to despise the esteem and approbation of his instructors, and to disclaim all the rewards of diligence and virtue, he was suspected of _fishing_. The fear of this suspicion or imputation has, I believe, perverted many minds which, from good and honorable motives, were better disposed."--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, pp. xxvi., xxvii.

To those who've parts at exhibition,
Obtained by long, unwearied _fishing_,
I say, to such unlucky wretches,
I give, for wear, a brace of breeches.
_Will of Charles Prentiss, in Rural Repository_, 1795.

And, since his _fishing_ on the land was vain,
To try his luck upon the azure main.--_Class Poem_, 1835.

Whenever I needed advice or assistance, I did not hesitate, through any fear of the charge of what, in the College cant, was called "_fishing_," to ask it of Dr. Popkin.--_Memorial of John S. Popkin, D.D._, p. ix.

At Dartmouth College, the electioneering for members of the secret societies was formerly called _fishing_. At the same institution, individuals in the Senior Class were said to be _fishing for appointments_, if they tried to gain the good-will of the Faculty by any special means.

FIVES. A kind of play with a ball against the side of a building, resembling tennis; so named, because three _fives_ or _fifteen_ are counted to the game.--_Smart_.

A correspondent, writing of Centre College, Ky., says: "Fives was a game very much in vogue, at which the President would often take a hand, and while the students would play for ice-cream or some other refreshment, he would never fail to come in for his share."

FIZZLE. Halliwell says: "The half-hiss, half-sigh of an animal." In many colleges in the United States, this word is applied to a bad recitation, probably from the want of distinct articulation which usually attends such performances. It is further explained in the Yale Banger, November 10, 1846: "This figure of a wounded snake is intended to represent what in technical language is termed a _fizzle_. The best judges have decided, that to get just one third of the meaning right constitutes a _perfect fizzle_."

With a mind and body so nearly at rest, that naught interrupted my inmost repose save cloudy reminiscences of a morning "_fizzle_" and an afternoon "flunk," my tranquillity was sufficiently enviable.--_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 114.

Here he could _fizzles_ mark without a sigh,
And see orations unregarded die.
_The Tomahawk_, Nov., 1849.

Not a wail was heard, or a "_fizzle's_" mild sigh,
As his corpse o'er the pavement we hurried.
_The Gallinipper_, Dec., 1849.

At Princeton College, the word _blue_ is used with _fizzle_, to render it intensive; as, he made a _blue fizzle_, he _fizzled blue_.

FIZZLE. To fail in reciting; to recite badly. A correspondent from Williams College says: "Flunk is the common word when some unfortunate man makes an utter failure in recitation. He _fizzles_ when he stumbles through at last." Another from Union writes: "If you have been lazy, you will probably _fizzle_." A writer in the Yale Literary Magazine thus humorously defines this word: "_Fizzle_. To rise with modest reluctance, to hesitate often, to decline finally; generally, to misunderstand the question."--Vol. XIV. p. 144.

My dignity is outraged at beholding those who _fizzle_ and flunk in my presence tower above me.--_The Yale Banger_, Oct. 22, 1847.

I "skinned," and "_fizzled_" through.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854.

The verb _to fizzle out_, which is used at the West, has a little stronger signification, viz. to be quenched, extinguished; to prove a failure.--_Bartlett's Dict. Americanisms_.

The factious and revolutionary action of the fifteen has interrupted the regular business of the Senate, disgraced the actors, and _fizzled out_.--_Cincinnati Gazette_.

2. To cause one to fail in reciting. Said of an instructor.

_Fizzle_ him tenderly,
Bore him with care,
Fitted so slenderly,
Tutor, beware.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIII. p. 321.

FIZZLING. Reciting badly; the act of making a poor recitation.

Of this word, a writer jocosely remarks: "_Fizzling_ is a somewhat _free_ translation of an intricate sentence; proving a proposition in geometry from a wrong figure. Fizzling is caused sometimes by a too hasty perusal of the pony, and generally by a total loss of memory when called upon to recite."--_Sophomore Independent_, Union College, Nov. 1854.

Weather drizzling,
Freshmen _fizzling_.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XV. p. 212.

FLAM. At the University of Vermont, in student phrase, to _flam_ is to be attentive, at any time, to any lady or company of ladies. E.g. "He spends half his time _flamming_" i.e. in the society of the other sex.

FLASH-IN-THE-PAN. A student is said to make a _flash-in-the-pan_ when he commences to recite brilliantly, and suddenly fails; the latter part of such a recitation is a FIZZLE. The metaphor is borrowed from a gun, which, after being primed, loaded, and ready to be discharged, _flashes in the pan_.

FLOOR. Among collegians, to answer such questions as may be propounded concerning a given subject.

Then Olmsted took hold, but he couldn't make it go,
For we _floored_ the Bien. Examination.
_Presentation Day Songs_, Yale Coll., June 14, 1854.

To _floor a paper_, is to answer every question in it.--_Bristed_.

Somehow I nearly _floored the paper_, and came out feeling much more comfortable than when I went in.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 12.

Our best classic had not time to _floor_ the _paper_.--_Ibid._, p. 135.

FLOP. A correspondent from the University of Vermont writes: "Any 'cute' performance by which a man is sold [deceived] is a _good flop_, and, by a phrase borrowed from the ball ground, is 'rightly played.' The discomfited individual declares that they 'are all on a side,' and gives up, or 'rolls over' by giving his opponent 'gowdy.'" "A man writes cards during examination to 'feeze the profs'; said cards are 'gumming cards,' and he _flops_ the examination if he gets a good mark by the means." One usually _flops_ his marks by feigning sickness.

FLOP A TWENTY. At the University of Vermont, to _flop a twenty_ is to make a perfect recitation, twenty being the maximum mark for scholarship.

FLUMMUX. Any failure is called a _flummux_. In some colleges the word is particularly applied to a poor recitation. At Williams College, a failure on the play-ground is called a _flummux_.

FLUMMUX. To fail; to recite badly. Mr. Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, has the word _flummix_, to be overcome; to be frightened; to give way to.

Perhaps Parson Hyme didn't put it into Pokerville for two mortal hours; and perhaps Pokerville didn't mizzle, wince, and finally _flummix_ right beneath him.--_Field, Drama in Pokerville_.

FLUNK. This word is used in some American colleges to denote a complete failure in recitation.

This, O, [signifying neither beginning nor end,] Tutor H---- said meant a perfect _flunk_.--_The Yale Banger_, Nov. 10, 1846.

I've made some twelve or fourteen _flunks_.--_The Gallinipper_, Dec. 1849.

And that bold man must bear a _flunk_, or die,
Who, when John pleased be captious, dared reply.
_Yale Tomahawk_, Nov. 1849.

The Sabbath dawns upon the poor student burdened with the thought of the lesson, or _flunk_ of the morrow morning.--_Ibid._, Feb. 1851.

He thought ...
First of his distant home and parents, tunc,
Of tutors' note-books, and the morrow's _flunk_.
_Ibid._, Feb. 1851.

In moody meditation sunk,
Reflecting on my future _flunk_.
_Songs of Yale_, 1853, p. 54.

And so, in spite of scrapes and _flunks_,
I'll have a sheep-skin too.
_Presentation Day Songs_, June 14, 1854.

Some amusing anecdotes are told, such as the well-known one about the lofty dignitary's macaronic injunction, "Exclude canem, et shut the door"; and another of a tutor's dismal _flunk_ on faba.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 263.

FLUNK. To make a complete failure when called on to recite. A writer in the Yale Literary Magazine defines it, "to decline peremptorily, and then to whisper, 'I had it all, except that confounded little place.'"--Vol. XIV. p. 144.

They know that a man who has _flunked_, because too much of a genius to get his lesson, is not in a state to appreciate joking. --_Amherst Indicator_, Vol. I. p. 253.

Nestor was appointed to deliver a poem, but most ingloriously _flunked_.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p. 256.

The phrase _to flunk out_, which Bartlett, in his Dictionary of Americanisms, defines, "to retire through fear, to back out," is of the same nature as the above word.

Why, little one, you must be cracked, if you _flunk out_ before we begin.--_J.C. Neal_.

It was formerly used in some American colleges as is now the word _flunk_.

We must have, at least, as many subscribers as there are students in College, or "_flunk out."--The Crayon_, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 3.

FLUNKEY. In college parlance, one who makes a complete failure at recitation; one who _flunks_.

I bore him safe through Horace,
Saved him from the _flunkey's_ doom.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XX. p. 76.

FLUNKING. Failing completely in reciting.

_Flunking_ so gloomily,
Crushed by contumely.
_Yale Lit. Mag._, Vol. XIII. p. 322.

We made our earliest call while the man first called up in the division-room was deliberately and gracefully "_flunking_."--_Ibid._, Vol. XIV. p. 190.

See what a spot a _flunking_ Soph'more made!
_Yale Gallinipper_, Nov. 1848.

FLUNKOLOGY. A farcical word, designed to express the science _of flunking_.

The ---- scholarship, is awarded to the student in each Freshman Class who passes the poorest examination in _Flunkology_.--_Burlesque Catalogue_, Yale Coll., 1852-53, p. 28.

FOOTBALL. For many years, the game of football has been the favorite amusement at some of the American colleges, during certain seasons of the year. At Harvard and Yale, it is customary for the Sophomore Class to challenge the Freshmen to a trial game, soon after their entrance into College. The interest excited on this occasion is always very great, the Seniors usually siding with the former, and the Juniors with the latter class. The result is generally in favor of the Sophomores. College poets and prose-writers have often chosen the game of football as a topic on which to exercise their descriptive powers. One invokes his muse, in imitation of a great poet, as follows:--

"The Freshmen's wrath, to Sophs the direful spring
Of shins unnumbered bruised, great goddess, sing!"

Another, speaking of the size of the ball in ancient times compared with what it is at present, says:--

"A ball like this, so monstrous and so hard,
Six eager Freshmen scarce could kick a yard!"

Further compositions on this subject are to be found in the Harvard Register, Harvardiana, Yale Banger, &c.

See WRESTLING-MATCH.

FORENSIC. A written argument, maintaining either the affirmative or the negative side of a question.

In Harvard College, the two senior classes are required to write _forensics_ once in every four weeks, on a subject assigned by the Professor of Moral Philosophy; these they read before him and the division of the class to which they belong, on appointed days. It was formerly customary for the teacher to name those who were to write on the affirmative and those on the negative, but it is now left optional with the student which side he will take. This word was originally used as an adjective, and it was usual to speak of a forensic dispute, which has now been shortened into _forensic_.

For every unexcused omission of a _forensic_, or of reading a _forensic_, a deduction shall be made of the highest number of marks to which that exercise is entitled. Seventy-two is the highest mark for _forensics_.--_Laws of Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848.

What with themes, _forensics_, letters, memoranda, notes on lectures, verses, and articles, I find myself considerably hurried.--_Collegian_, 1830, p. 241.

When
I call to mind _Forensics_ numberless,
With arguments so grave and erudite,
I never understood their force myself,
But trusted that my sage instructor would.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 403.

FORK ON. At Hamilton College, _to fork on_, to appropriate to one's self.

FORTS. At Jefferson and at Washington Colleges in Pennsylvania, the boarding-houses for the students are called _forts_.

FOUNDATION. A donation or legacy appropriated to support an institution, and constituting a permanent fund, usually for a charitable purpose.--_Webster_.

In America it is also applied to a donation or legacy appropriated especially to maintain poor and deserving, or other students, at a college.

In the selection of candidates for the various beneficiary _foundations_, the preference will be given to those who are of exemplary conduct and scholarship.--_Laws of Univ. at Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 19.

Scholars on this _foundation_ are to be called "scholars of the house."--_Sketches of Yale Coll._, p. 86.

FOUNDATIONER. One who derives support from the funds or foundation of a college or a great school.--_Jackson_.

This word is not in use in the _United States_.

See BENEFICIARY.

FOUNDATION SCHOLAR. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., a scholar who enjoys certain privileges, and who is of that class whence Fellows are taken.