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FOUR YEARS AT YALE

By a Graduate of '69

NEW HAVEN, CONN.

CHARLES C. CHATFIELD & CO.

1871

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 187 1, by

Charles C. Chatfield & Co.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

PREFACE.

The erroneous and absurd ideas which very many intelligent
people, who have not chanced to experience it, entertain upon the
subject of college life, have led me to believe that a minute account
of affairs as they exist to-day at one of the chief American colleges
would not be without value to the general public, nor without
interest to the alumni and undergraduates of other colleges as
well as of the one described. Hence, though not without some
little diffidence, I venture to offer this compilation of facts, which no
one has ever yet taken the trouble to group together, with the hope
that it may be of service as a corrector of opinion and of interest as
an aid to the memory.

Looking at things from the undergraduate in distinction from the
official stand -point, I have given as little attention as possible to
those matters which a formal historian would render prominent,
and have gone into the smallest details in cases which he would
take no notice of. I have accounted no fact too trivial or insignifi-
cant to be unworthy of record. I have attached no moral to the
most important one. I have simply endeavored to place ' every
scrap of evidence fairly before the reader, leaving him to decide for
himself how much of it to use in making up his judgment. I have
studiously refrained from urging any idea or theory of my own, and
have endeavored, in cases where some expression of opinion
seemed necessary, to offer simply the prevailing sentiment of
college. Yet, that my position may not be misunderstood, I have
added a Concluding Chapter, for the expression of my personal
beliefs, and I respectfully ask that no one represent anything in the
book as an " opinion " of mine until he has read that chapter. Facts
are facts, and because I see fit to describe them in cold blood, with-
out comment of any sort, I do not wish to be quoted either as
approving of or as condemning them.

Some of my statements will doubtless be distasteful to many.
Some may be called untrue or unfair. Especially will the facts

I

iv . FREFACE.

offered in regard to the Society System be likely to arouse ill-will.
Now, I have never gone out of my way to pry into society secrets ;
nor have I attempted any betrayal of them. I have simply repeated
the current beliefs and rumors, without pretending to vouch for
their correctness. Indeed, as a society man, I know that some of
the things reported are not true in fact ; but I have taken an outside
view of matters, and reported nothing save what a man learns — or at
least might easily learn — who never enters a society-hall. My narra-
tions, I think, on the whole, tend to the societies' advantage ; and if
any fierce partisan blames me for having, in some instances, said
too much, let him at least give me the credit for having, in every
instance, kept back much which I might have said. As I was left
a neutral in senior year, I can hardly be accused of having much
prejudice in favor of the senior societies, and if I have treated^them
with fairness, the fact may perhaps induce some to believe in my
ability to take an impersonal, unprejudiced, outside view of the
others which make up the system.

I am aware that the arrangement of this -book is to some extent
arbitrary. I accepted it only as a choice of evils. But I hope that
the head-lines placed before each Chapter, and the Index at the
end, may in great part compensate for this defect. I know, too,
that there are in it many repetitions and some seeming contradic-
tions and inconsistencies. I perceive how easy it will be to mis-
quote my work, and to use isolated and disconnected portions of it
to the detriment of particular interests of the college, or even of the
institution itself. I regret the fact most keenly ; yet, after all, such
snap-judgments are of less account than deliberate opinions drawn
from a full consideration of all the facts, and I firmly believe that
anyone who reads this book to the end will have no worse opinion
of Yale life from knowing what it really is. If the event proves
otherwise, *' so much the worse for the facts " ; but these ought
none the Ifcss to be made known. What I ask is, that they should
all be taken into account ; and that hasty conclusions should not
be jumped at, from a partial or one-sided glance at the evidence.

Covering as it does a ground never before touched upon, this
book must inevitably contain many errors in its facts and state-
ments ; for, though I have given the largest attention to detailing
things known to my own experience, I have of necessity been
obliged to trust to hear-say and tradition for many of my assertions.
I shall, therefore, most gladly receive any corrections or additions,
which may be offered to my notice, either publicly or privately, by
those who are able to make them, in order that, should a second

PREFACE. V

edition be called for, it may be made more perfect than the present
one. It is equally inevitable that the book, being the production of
a young and unpractised writer, must contain many errors of
expression, and special literary defects ; and I ask of the critics
who may happen to notice it, that, as a particular favor, they will,
if they condemn my literary execution, be good enough to descend
into the details of the matter, arid not dismiss it with a few general
maledictions. The latter would probably do no one any good, but
the former might be a real benefit to me, as I make no pretensions
to excellence, and am not yet too old to learn.

One thing more. I have written this book impersonally and
published it anonymously. No officer of the college, or member of
my class, has had any knowledge of it, or connection with it. Of
course every one who knows me will be likely to at once recognize
me in these pages, and of course I am perfectly willing thus to be
recognized. But one thing I do ask, and that is that those who
know me will refrain from dragging my personality before the
public. For the one and only thing which it concerns the public
to know, in forming its opinion of what I have written, is the thing
which I have announced upon the title-page, in saying that I am

A Graduate of '69.

June 17, 1871. •

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Historical and Explanatory, i

Origin of Yale College— Its Early Wanderings — The First Col-
lege Hall— Elihu Yale — The Rival Commencements of 1718 —
Restoration of Harmony— Religious Tests— The Nine Presidents-
Relations between the State and the College— Members of the Cor-
poration—Proposed Change in the Charter— Organization of the
Faculty— Division of Responsibility— Position of the College Yard
— Construction of the Brick Rovf : South Middle, 1750; Athe-
naeum, 1761 ; South, 1793; North Middle and Lyceum, 1800 ;
North, 1821 ; Chapel, 1824; Divinity, 1835— Situation of the Dor-
mitories—The Central Row: Laboratory, 1782; Cabinet, 1819;
Treasury, 1832— The High Street Row : Library, 1842 ; Alumni
Hall, 1853 ; Art Building, 1864— Proposed Removal of the College
— Final Adoption of the Reconstruction Plan— The Two New Dor-
mitories — Presidents' Houses — Gymnasium — The Theological
School— The Law School— The Medical School— The Sheffield
Scientific School— College Men and School Men— The Patrons of
the College — Its Financial Condition — Vocabulary of College
Words — List of Publications relating to Yale.

Part First.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM.

CHAPTER I.— Freshman Societies, . . . . 51
Development of the Modern System— Kappa Sigma Epsilon —
Delta Kappa— Gamma Nu — Sigma Delta — Election of Active and
Honorary Members — Catalogues — The Outside Chapters and Sta-
tistics of Membership — The Society System in Other Colleges —
Badge Pins and Mottoes — Halls and Mode of Renting Them —
Electioneering— Initiation — Suppers — Interference of Upper-class
Men— Farewell Ceremonies of the Sophomores— Meetings anp

viii CONTENTS.

Exercises—" Peanut Bums " — Treatment of Intruders— Officers
and the Campaign Election— Coalitions— System of Electioneering
— Initiation Committees' Supper — Expenses of Membership —
Society Zeal and its Gradual Decline— Significance of Prize Lists-
Notable Members — Comparison of the Societies — Anomalous
Position of Gamma Nu— Initiation Fables and their Origin-
Theory of the Supper Business— Advice to sub-Freshmen.

CHAPTER II.— Sophomore Societies, ... 87
Kappa Sigma Theta— Alpha Sigma Phi— Phi Theta Psi— Delta
Beta Xi— The Yale "Banger" and "Tomahawk"— Chapters-
Posters and Song Books— Electioneering and Pledging— Giving
out Elections — Initiation — Ordinary Exercises — Singing— Class
Elections — The Sophomore Type.

CHAPTER III.— Junior Societies, .... 106
Alpha Delta Phi— Psi Upsilon — Delta Kappa Epsilon— Badges,
Vignettes and Mottoes— Catalogues, Chapters and Membership—
The Death of Old Chapters and the Origin of New Ones — Names
of Prominent Members — General Conventions — Intercourse
between the Chapters — Giving out Elections — Initiation — Meetings
and Exercises — Halls — Corporate Titles — The Course of Politics
in '69 (the Freshman Societies ; the Annual Dinner Committee ;
the Gamma-Nu-Delta-Phi Embroglio ; the Cochs and " Lit."
Editors) — The Effect upon Delta Phi — Agreements concerning the
Freshmen — Real Character of a Coalition — The Division of the
Spoils — The Contested Elections of Members — Duration of Society
Influences — Comparison of the Societies.

CHAPTER IV.— Senior Societies, .... 142
Peculiarities of these Societies — Skull and Bones — Its Badge Pin
and Numeral — Hall and Corporate Title — Origin — Catalogue —
Mode of Giving out Elections — Initiation — Mode of Summoning
Members to the Annual Convention — Attendance upon the Regular
and Special Meetings — Peculiar Customs and Traditions — Scroll
and Key — Its liadge Pin and Vignette — Hall and Corporate Title
— Origin and Growth — Customs and Traditions — Spade and Grave
— Its Origin, Precarious Existence, Change of Name, and Final
Catastrophe — The Societies and the Neutrals — Bull and Stones —
The Coffin of '69 — Tlic Tea-Kcttle of '53 — Crown and Scepter —
Star and Dart — Notable Members of the Existing Societies — Mode
of Packing and Making up a Crowd — Comparison of the Societies
— Their "Policies," Actual and Possible — Failure of their Imitators

CONTENTS. IX

in Other Colleges — General Facts about all the Class Societies —
Comparison of their Importance in Each Year — General Result of
the System.

CHAPTER V. — Society Institutions, . . . 190

Linonia, and Brothers in Unity — Their Origin and Early His-
tory— Rivalry in Gaining Members — The Statement of Facts — The
Campaign, a Dozen Years Ago — The Rush — Latest Modes of Dis-
tributing the Freshmen — Initiation — Meetings and Exercises — Exhi-
bitions— Officers, Politics, and the Campaign Election — Attendance
— Management of the Finances — The Society Halls — Catalogues —
Libraries — Reading Room — The College Bookstore — The Prize
Debates — Annual and Centennial Celebrations — Analysis of the
Society Tax of 1869-70— Calliope and Phoenix — Phi Beta Kappa —
Its Origin and Peculiar Organization — Names of the Chapters —
Meetings and Exercises — Orations and Poems — Qualifications for
Membership — An Invasion of Barbarians — The Society Badge Key
— Initiation — The Annual Business Meeting — Catalogues — Signifi-
cance of the Fraternity— Chi Delta Theta— Its Literary Character
— The Present Wearers of its Badge.

Part Second.

THE STUDENT LIFE.

CHAPTER L — Freshman Year, 237

Board and Lodging — Eating Clubs — Their Formation and Char-
acteristics— Names, Mottoes and Devices — The College Club or
Commons — The Old Commons Hall System — The Old Buttery —
Smoking Out — Stealing — Hazing — Put Out That Light ! — Rushing
— The Foot-Ball Game — The Painting Disgrace — Gate Lifting —
Lamp Smashing— Thanksgiving Jubilee— As it was Known to '69
— Its Previous Origin and Growth — Interference of the Faculty —
The Last Jubilee — Its Character in the Future — Pow-Wovv — The
Annual Dinner, and its Predecessor, the Biennial Jubilee — The
Freshman Laws of the Last Century — The Old Manner of Lec-
turing.

CHAPTER n.— Sophomore Year, .... 287
Rooming in College — Drawing and Choosing the Rooms— Trad-
ing of Choices — Rooming Alone — Packing an Entry — Moving —
Rent — Buying and Selling Furniture — Fuel, Water and Light —
Sweeps, Regular and Private — Paraphernalia of a Student's Rcom
— Its Self-Invited Visitors— Candy Sam, Hannibal, Fine Day, and

X CONTENTS.

the Rest— The Tricks Sometimes Played upon Them— The College
Police, and the Extent of their Interference — The Charm of Dormi-
tory Life— Sitting on the Fence— Unsuccessful Attempt to Break up
the Practice— Cause of the Failure— Out-door Singing— Origin of
the Practice, and of the Songs— Glee Clubs, Cecilia and Beethoven
— The Latter's Connection with the College Choir — R. S. Willis's
Account of It — And its First Concert— Its Recent Character and
MembershiiD — Concerts and their Profits — Sophomoric Abuse of
Freshmen — Public Sentiment concerning It — Areopagus — Nu Tau
Phi— Omega Lambda Chi— A Mock Initiation— Compromises with
the Faculty— Burning the Coal Yard— Base Ball— Yale against
Harvard^-The Record with other College and Professional Clubs
— Places and Times Devoted to the Sport — Entertainment of Vis-
itors— The Burial of Euclid — As Described in 1S43 — Fifteen Years
Later — Davenport's Lithograph — The Last Celebration of the Rite
— Similar Ceremonies Elsewhere.

CHAPTER IIL— Junior Year, 327

Boating— The Decade Ending in 1S53 — Organization of the Yale
Navy— Catalogue of Boats-r- Formation of Permanent Boat Clubs
in i860 — Their Boats — Adoption of the Present System in 1S6S-70
— Third List of Boats — Riker's and the Boat House of 1859 —
Dedication of the Present Boat House — Incorporation of the Navy
— The Boat House Lease — Payment of the Debt by the Commo-
dore of '70 — The Annual Commencement Regattas, 1S53-58— The
Fall Races, 1859-67 — Course of the Champion Flag, 1S53-71 — The
Regattas on Lake Saltonstall — The Phelps Barge Races and the
Southworth Cup — Irregular Regattas, 1856-65 — Uniforms and
Flags— Yale and Harvard— The First Period, 1852-60— The Sec-
ond Period, iS64-70^The Lesser Races of this Period— The Seven
Great University Races— Regatta Day at Worcester — Student Row-
dyism—Blue and Red — Betting^Dress, Training and Trainers-^
Attempt to Belittle Yale's Triumph in 1S65— The Foulings of 1870,
and the Resulting Complications — Refusal of Harvard to Answer
the Challenge for iS7i^The Seven University Crews — Gymnastics
— The Practice of Boating Men^The Favorite Hour for Exercise
— The Annual Exhibition — The Wooden Spoon Presentation— Ori-
gin of the Idea — Mode of Electing the Cochleaureati — Political
Considerations — Initiation, and the Spoon — " Insigne Cochlcaurca-
torum" — The Temple Exhibitions— Humbugging an Audience —
Brewster's and Music Halls — The Opening Loads — Philosophical
Orations— Changes in the Exhibition— Its Increased Cost, and How

■

^CONTENTS. XI

..^s Met— Mode of Distributing Tickets and Reserved Seats-
Character of the Audience — The Promenade Concert— Society
Statistics— Abolition of the Spoon Presentation by '72— Proposed
Substitute for the Exhibition and Concert.

CHAPTER IV.— Senior Year, 424

Journalism— The Yale Literary Magazine— Election of Editors
—Initiation Supper- Chi Delta Theta— Organization and Manage-
ment of the Magazine— Its Printers and Publishers— Mode of So-
liciting Subscriptions— Number of Subscribers— Back Numbers
and Sets— Paying the Printer— The Repudiated Debt of 1858— C9I-
lecting Subscriptions— Profit and Loss— Advertisements— The Lit.
Prize Medal— Class and Society Connections of the Winners-
Character of the Medal and the Essay— Typographical Changes-
Editorial Independence in '64— Theory of After Elections— The
Original Literary Ideal— Gradual Growth of the Mirror-of-Collegc-
Lifc Theory— Contributors— The General Index of 1868— Illustra-
tions and Typography— The Position of Editor— Notable Gradu-
ates of the Lit. Office— Society Statistics of the Editors— Repre-
sentative Character of the Magazine— Its Predecessors : Literary
Cabinet, Athenxum, Crayon, Sitting Room, Student's Companion,
Little Gentleman, Gridiron, Medley— The Yale Review and Yale
Literary Quidnunc— The University Quarterly— Its Mode of Publi-
cation—Organization of the Quarterly Asssociation— Names of the
Colleges Composing It— The Yale Men and Their Work— Editorial
Convention— Finances and Prizes— Credit Due the Publishers—
The Yale Banner, Pot Pourri, and Other Catalogues— Minor Papers
and Feuilletons— The College Courant— Its Humble Origin in 1865
—Change of Name and Management in 1867— Advertisements—
The Undergraduate Department— Society Connections of the Edi-
tors—The New Yale Courant of the Undergraduates— Printers and
Typography— Recent Make-up of the College Courant— Class Pic-
tures—How Procured— How Distributed and Exchanged— The
New Plan— Origin of the Custom— Varieties of Pictures, 1847-71
—Class Seals and Mottoes— Memorabil and Its Collectors— Pres-
entation Day— The Original Formalities— As Celebrated in 1778
and Afterwards— The Modern Poem and Oration— Announcement
of Prizes— The Faculty's Collation— Election of Orator and Poet-
Course of Senior Politics in '69— Society Statistics— General Good
Feeling — Plagiarism— Presentation Afternoon — Class Histories
and Historians— The True Test of College Wit and Humor— Class

Statistics— The Ring and Triangle— Under the Elms—Singing, an

Xii CONTENTS.

Obsolete Custom — Reading the Histories — Planting the Ivy —
Cheering the College Buildings and Professors — Saying the Last
Farewell — History of the Class Ivies — Incidents and Accidents of
the Day.

CHAPTER v.— Town and Gown, 500

Bullyism^-Capture of the Bully Club — Election of Bullies — Their
Duties and Privileges — The Fight of Bully against President— Its
Culmination in 1840 — Abolishment of Bullyism— Preservation of
the Club-<-Town and Gown ^ the Firemen's Riot of 1841 — The
"City Guard"' and the " Banner "-^The Riot of 1854 — Preliminary
Hostilities — The Attack — Death of the Rioters' Ringleader —
Frenzy of the Mob — South College to be Bombarded — The Siege
Abandoned — Preparations for the Defence — Coroner's Investigation
— The Popular Verdict— The High street Fracas of 1858— Who
Fired the Fatal Shot?— The Stafford Homicide of i860— The
Stabbing of a College Officer in 1843 — The Students and the
Peelers — Cause of their Enmity — The Knock-down of 1870 — The
City Tradesmen and their College Customers — The Old Sumptuary
Laws — Present Habits in Dress — Disregard of Family or Local
Pretensions— Politics and the Suffrage — The Student in Society —
College Widows — Society and the Mission Schools— Prayer Meet-
ings—The Missionary and other Religious Societies— The Tem-
perance Society— Drinking and Licentiousness — Swearing, Smok-
ing, Chewing, Billiard Playing and Gambling — Cards, Chess, and
Velocipedes — Sailing Excursions — Camping Out on the Thimbles —
Walking, Foot-Racing, Skating and Driving — Obituary Customs —
Post-Graduate Class Meetings— The Class Records— Exercises of
a Class Reunion — Origin of the Class Cup — The First Cup Presen-
tation of '44— Changes in the Custom— Recent Abandonment of
the Ceremony.

Part Third.

THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM.

CHAPTER L— Studies, 543

The Entrance Examinations— White and Blue Papers— When to
Attend — How to be Prepared— Quantity and Quality— Advanced
Students— Organization of the Class— The Recitation Rooms and
Recitations— Mode of Instruction— Exceptional Pronunciation of
Greek Society-Letters— Optional Work— The Term Examinations
—The Annuals— The Studies Pursued by the Class of '6g— Fresh-

I

CONTENTS. xili

man Year— Sophomore Year— Junior Year — Senior Year — Varia-
tions and Changes in the Curriculum-*-The Studies of a Century
Ago — Old Systems of Examination.

CHAPTER IL— Marks, 569

Morning Prayers — The Ordinary Ceremonies— Sunday Services
— The College Church and its Members — Attending City Churches
—The College Choir and Organ — Government by Marks — Schedule
of Penalties — "The Course of Discipline" — Monitors and Their
Duties — Matriculation — Scholarship by Marks— Time and Mode of
Giving out Stands — Making-up Omitted Lessons — Excuses and
Church Papers — Leaves of Absence— ^ Letters Home — Official
Hieroglyphics — Appealing to the Faculty— Living Regulations and
Dead Laws — Origin and Growth of the 'Code — Discipline in the
Olden Time— Fines, "Degradation,'' and "Cuffing"— The Modern
Theory of Discipline — The Recent Experiment in Division.

CHAPTER in.— Honors, 590

Appointments for Junior Exhibition and Commencement — How
they are Determined and Announced — The Amount of Exertion
which they Call Forth — Stand, as Popularly Regarded — " Scholars
of the House " — The P)erkeley Scholarship — Sheldon Clark, and
his Donations — The Bristed Scholarship — Freshman Scholarships :
Woolsey, Hurlbut and Runk — DeForest Scholarship for Modern
Languages — Beneficiary Funds — The Ilarmer Foundation — The
DeForest Fund — Premiums for Translation and Latin Composition
— Miscellaneous Clark Awards— Prizes in Astronomy and Mathe-
matics— Declamation Prizes : Old and New Modes of Awarding
Them — Prizes for English Composition—- Prize Poems— Nev/ Mode
of Aw^irding the Composition Prizes—" Honorary Mentions " for
the Seniors—The Townsend Premiums, and the DeForest Medal
— Speaking for the Prize — Statistics of the DeForest Men — Total
Prize and Scholarship Funds of the College — General Effects of
the Honor System.

CHAPTER IV.— Manners, 620

Skinning — Ordinary Methods— Blackboard Work — Conies and
Chemistry in '69 — At Term Examination — Stealing the Papers —
Hands and Feet — Skinning-Machines — Indexing a Subject — A
Unique Fraud Detected — Swapping the Papers — The Yale and
Williams Chemists of '68 — At Annual — The Type and Pencil
Game — Watch-Chrystals and Eye Glasses — Pocket Skinning in '67

XIV CONTENTS.

and '55 — Calculations for Cramming — Robbing the Printers —
Attempted Seizure of the Puckle Paper of '69— How a Baffled
Thief at last Succeeded — Working up a Case — Inner and Outer
Rings — Cheating on Make-ups — Accidental Erasures — Ponying-+-
Composition Frauds — How Marks are Got Rid of— Precautions
and Penalties—College Sentiment in Regard to Deceiving the
Faculty — Behavior in the Recitation Rooms — At Lectures — In the
Chapel — How Faculty and Students Address and Refer to Each
Other — Farewell Cheers for the Instructors — Absence of the
Rebellious Spii'it — Insolent Tricks Discountenanced — The Faculty
Personally Respected.

CHAPTER v.— Shows, 659

Junior Exhibition — Time and Place of Holding It — Its Recent
Transformation — Managers and Invitation Notes — The Exer-
cises and their Value — The Promenade Concert — Commence-
ment— Rules for the Attendance of the Seniors— The Procession

— Arrangement of the Audience — The Speakers and the Lis-
teners — Conferring the Degrees — The Dinner and the Evening

— Recent Changes in the Show — Its Celebration in the Olden
Time — Gunpowder, Rum and Riot — The Official Calendar — The
Society of the Alumni — Concio ad Clerum — The Obituary Rec-
ord— The General Statement — The Annual Catalogue — The
Triennial Catalogue— The Alumni Associations in the Cities.

CONCLUDING CHAPTER.

A Matter of Opinion, 686

Caution to the Reader — Two Kinds of Preparation for College —
The Best Fitting-Schools — The Society System — Its General
Fairness — A Word for the Reformers — The Abuse of Freshmen
— A Disgraceful Puzzle for Moralists — Modern Languages and
Optional Studies— A "Practical" Argument for Classical Dis-
cipline— The Last American Stronghold of the Humanists —
Procrusteanism and Common Sense — The Claims of the Muscle
Men — And of tl>e Supporters of all Honorable Customs — Who
Best Enjoy College Life .?— The Real Value of the Training —
Pecuniary Needs of the College — The Rewards of Doing Much
from Little — Unselfish Devotion of the College Officers — A Cry
from Macedonia.

FOUR YEARS AT YALE

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY.

Origin of Yale College — Its Early Wanderings — The First College
Hall — Elihu Yale — The Rival Commencements of 1718 — Res-
toration of Harmony— Religious Tests — The Nine Presidents —
Relations between the State and the College — Members of the
Corporation — Proposed Change in the Charter — Organization
of the Faculty — Division of Responsibility — Position of the
College Yard — Construction of the Brick Row : South Middle,
1750; Athenaeum, 1761 ; South, 1793; North Middle and Ly-
ceum, 1800; North, 1821 ; Chapel, 1824; Divinity, 1835 — Situ-
ation of the Dormitories — The Central Row : Laboratory, 1782 ;
Cabinet, 1819 ; Treasury, 1832— The High Street Row: Li-
brary, 1842 ; Alumni Hall, 1853 ; Art Building, 1864 — Pro-
posed Removal of the College — Final Adoption of the Recon-
struction Plan — The Two New Dormitories — Presidents' Houses
— Gymnasium — The Theological School — The Law School—
The Medical School— The Sheffield Scientific School— College
Men and School Men — The Patrons of the College — Its Finan-
cial Condition — Vocabulary of College Words — List of Publi-
cations relating to Yale.

Yale College is situated in the city of New Haven, in
the State of Connecticut. It dates back its origin to the
very beginning of the eighteenth century. Fifty years
before that, the project of establishing such an insti-
tution had been discussed, only to be finally pronounced
impracticable, both on account of the poorness of the
colony, and of the superior claims of Harvard upon

3

t FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the patronage of all friends of learning throughout New
England. But, as the century drew near its end, the old
plan was revived and became the great topic of interest
among clergy and laity, until, at last, ten of the princi-
pal ministers of Connecticut, representing as many dif-
ferent towns, were nominated and appointed by general
consent to act as trustees and managers of the embryo
college. They first met and formed a society for the
prosecution of their project, at New Haven, sometime
in the year 1700; and at a subsequent meeting, the
same year, at Branford, each of the trustees brought a
number of books and presented them to the association,
using words to this effect as he laid them on the table :
" I give these books for the founding of a college in
this colony." ' This act of depositing the books has ever
since been considered the beginning of the college.
The entire donation consisted of about forty folio vol-
umes, valued at thirty pounds sterling. As doubts were
entertained as to whether the trustees could legally hold
lands, and the new institution be supported wholly by
private contributions, application was made to the Co-
lonial Assembly, which — October 9, 1701 — duly ratified
a charter which some Boston gentlemen had drawn up
at the request of the trustees, and voted an annual al-
lowance of sixty pounds sterling in support of the " col-
legiate school." The first meeting under the charter
was held at Saybrook, November 11, 1701, when the
trustees chose one of their own number, Rev. Abraham
Pierson of Killingworth, as first rector, and decided
that he should open the " school " at Saybrook, if he
could be done without too much inconvenience. The
first student was Jacob Hemingway — afterwards for
many years the minister at East Haven — who studied
alone with the rector from March till September, 1702,
at which latter time the number of students was in-

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 3

creased to eight. One of these, John Hart, who had
passed three years at Harvard, graduated alone in 1703,
but " the first student" did not graduate until the year
following, when his class numbered three in all. The
first Commencement was held in September, 1702, at
Saybrook, where four young gentlemen who had been
graduated at Harvard, and one who had been privately
educated, received the degree of Master of Arts, and
one (Nathanael Chauncey) received the degree of Bach-
elor. At this time a tutor was added to the corps of
instructors. For five years, or until the death of the
rector, March 5, 1707, the students resided with him at
Killingworth, while the Commencements were held at
Saybrook, privately, at the house of one of the trustees.
Then, Rev. Samuel Andrews of Milford was chosen
temporary rector, and for about nine years the Seniors
resided with him, while the under-classes remained, un-
der the charge of two tutors, at Saybrook, where the
Commencements still continued to be held. Dissatis-
faction having arisen among them at this state of things,
the trustees, at a meeting in April, 17 16, voted a leave
of absence until the next Commencement, for such as
preferred to study elsewhere. A majority of the stu-
dents accordingly went to Wethersfield, some to Hart-
ford, some to East Guilford, and a few remained at
Saybrook. The senior class still continued to reside
with the rector, and so, for the rest of the year, the
" collegiate school" was scattered about in half a dozen
different towns of the colony. In several of them,
meanwhile, subscriptions began to be raised as an in-
ducement to secure its permanent location. The larg-
est— £700 sterling — was made by the citizens of New
Haven, and thither — at a meeting held there October
17, 1716, adjourned from one held at the Saybrook
Commencement, a month before, when the matter had

4 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

been discussed but not fully decided — the trustees voted
to remove it. At the same time they appointed 4 com-
mittee to attend to the building of a large and commo-
dious college and a rector's house (there being in the
treasury about £1000 sterling, derived from private
subscriptions and legislative gifts) ; elected two tutors ;
and summoned them, the rector, and the scattered stu-
dents, to New Haven. Thirteen attended during the
year, while fourteen remained at Wethersfield, and four
at Saybrook ; — the latter, who comprised the entire sen-
ior class, coming up to New Haven to get their degrees
at the Commencement of 17 17.

"The college house was raised Octobers, 17 17, and
within a year after was so far finished as to be fit for the
commodious reception of the students. It was 170 feet
long, 22 feet wide, and three stories high ; made a hand-
some appearance, and contained nearly 50 studies, be-
sides the hall, library, and kitchen ; and it cost about
£1000 sterling." It stood near the corner of the pres-
ent college yard, in front of where the Athenaeum and
South College now stand, and was demolished in 1782.
The same year in which the " school " was removed to
New Haven, it received several valuable donations in
books, goods and money, — the chief donor being Elihu
Yale of London, governor of the East India Company.
Accordingly, on the morning of the first public Com-
mencement,— September 10, 17 18, — the trustees, with
requisite formalities, named the new building "Yale
College," in honor of the man by whose generosity they
had been enabled to complete the edifice. The patron
of the institution was born at New Haven, April 5,
1648, where his father had come with the earliest set-
tlers, ten years before, and he died, July 8, 1721. He
was buried in the church yard at Wrexham, the capital
of Denbighshire, in North Wales,— a town which had

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 5

long been the residence of his ancient and wealthy
family. Going to England at the age of ten, he received
his education there, and in 1678 went to the East In-
dies. Here he remained twenty years longer, serving
for much of the time as governor of Fort St. George on
the coast of Coromandel, accumulating a very large
property of his own, and marrying a wealthy lady —
widow of his predecessor in office — by whom he had
three daughters. He was elected governor of the
East India Company, on his return to London ; and
there, hearing that a college had been started in his
colonial birth-place which he left half a century before,
he made it those valuable presents which first brought
it on a respectable foundation. He seems to have been
an affable, good humored man, of ready generosity, with
no possible thought of the future glory and immortality
accruing to his name in consequence of his careless
gifts to the little collegiate school in the far-off colony
of Connecticut.

At this first public Commencement, eight men were
graduated, and besides their " disputations," in one of
the city churches, and other exercises, the governor of
the colony " was pleased to grace and crown the whole
solemnity with an elegant Latin oration, wherein he
congratulated the present happy state of the college in
being fixed at New Haven, and enriched by so many
noble benefactions ; and particularly celebrated the great
generosity of Governor Yale, with much respect and
honor." "All which being ended, the gentlemen re-
turned to the college hall, where they were entertained
with a splendid dinner ; and the ladies at the same
time were also entertained in the library. After which
we sung the first four verses of the sixty-fifth Psalm,
and so the day ended. Everything was managed with
so much order and splendor, that the fame of it ex-

6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

tremely disheartened the opposers, and made opposition
fall before it." That there was opposition is shown by
the fact that, on the same day, another Commencement
was held at Wethersfield, where five men were gradu-
ated. These, however, were shortly afterwards presented
with regular diplomas by the authorities at New Haven,
and were entered in the catalogue with the rest of their
class ; and the remaining students at Wethersfield were
again ordered to come to the former town. In the fol-
lowing October, the Colonial Assembly repeated the re-
quest, as the last of its measures " to quiet the minds
of people and introduce a general harmony into public
affairs," — its other decrees being : " that a State House
should be built at Hartford to compensate for the col-
lege at New Haven ; that £25 sterling should be given
to Saybrook for the use of the school, to compensate
for the removal of the college ; and that the governor
and council should, at the request of the trustees, give
such orders as they should think proper for the removal
of the library from Saybrook to New Haven." This
last was quite a necessary precaution, for in December,
1 7 18, when the trustees wished to remove the books, a
large crowd of men collected in and about the house
where they were stored, bent upon forcible opposition to
the plan. No attention being paid to the sheriff's war-
rant,— issued by order of the governor and council,
who, with the trustees, were present in person, — he was
obliged to break open the door and, with his attendants,
to wrest the library from the grasp of its guardians.
Bridges were torn down and other hindrances made to
prevent the return to New Haven, and while on the
way the wagons were broken into by night, and to some
extent robbed of their contents. In the strife and tu-
mult, about 160 volumes and many valuable papers
were lost, but the rest, — more than 1000 volumes,

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 7

— after a week's journey, reached New Haven in safety,
and were stored in the college library. " After this un-
happy struggle, the spirits of men began % degrees to
subside, and a general harmony was gradually intro-
duced among the trustees and the colony in general."
The " up-river" ministers, who had appealed to the Leg-
islature to interfere in their behalf, and had tried in
other ways besides those mentioned to prevent the es-
tablishment of the school at New Haven, now yielded
to the inevitable, became reconciled to the action of
the majority, and were henceforth firm friends of the
college.

The second rector. Rev. Timothy Cutler, was chosen
March 19, 17 19,-— a dozen years after the death of his
predecessor, — and by vote of the trustees, October 17,

1722, was "excused from all further service," on ac-
count of having " agreed to leave the communion of
the Connecticut churches and go over to England for
Episcopal ordination." Two other clergymen and one
of the college tutors joined with him in this schism,
which created the greatest alarm and excitement through-
out the colony, and led to the establishment of a " relig-
ious test,"— all officers of the college being thenceforth
obliged to assent to the " Saybrook Platform" of 1708,
before entering upon their duties. Other proofs of or-
thodoxy were afterwards added to this, but in 1823 the
whole system of tests was formally abrogated, after hav-
ing been in effect obsolete for several years. Rector
Cutler's dismissal was followed by an interval of four
years, in which each of the trustees in turn lived at the
college for a month's time and fulfilled the duties of
rector,— Mr. Andrews, for twelve years temporary rec-
tor, officiating at all the Commencements, save that of

1723, when Mr. Woodbridge, one of the reconciled
" up-river" trustees, was allowed to preside. The other,

8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

who had been the head of the opposition school at
Wethersfield, Rev. Elisha Williams, was in 1726 in-
ducted into office as third rector, having been chosen to
the post a year before that. With his accession, the
regular life of the college may be considered to have
begun, — the confusion and disorder and uncertainty
which had characterized its first quarter century's exist-
ence being then shaken off. On account of ill-health,
he resigned his office in 1739, and Rev. Thomas Clap
of Windham became his successor, — serving for twentj'-
seven years, or until July, 1766. In the century since
then, there have been five presidents : Naphtali Dag-
gett of '48, until 1777 ; Ezra Stiles of '46, until 1795 j
Timothy Dwight of '69, until 181 7 ; Jeremiah Day of
'95, until 1846 ; and Theodore Dwight Woolsey of '20,
until 187 1. Their four predecessors were all graduates
of Harvard, as were also three tutors and nine of the
ten clergymen who founded the "collegiate school" in
1700. Eighty years later, when the last Harvard man
withdrew from the board of trustees, there had been
fifty-six individuals connected with it, of whom one-half
were Harvard graduates.

At the time when the college was founded, there were
not above 15,000 inhabitants in the entire colony, and
the annuity granted with the original charter was, un-
der the circumstances, a more liberal gift than the Leg-
islature has ever since bestowed upon the institution.
The charter underwent minor amendments and ampli-
fications in 1723, but in 1745 a new and more elaborate
draft of the document was made, in eleven sections, set-
ting forth with great exactness the powers and duties of
the college officers. The names " rector," and " trus-
tees," " founders," " undertakers" or " governors," then
gave place to the style, "president and fellows of Yale

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. g

College," which title for the governing body has ever
since been retained. The name " Yale College," origi-
nally applied simply to the college building, was then
also first formally bestowed upon the entire institution,
which up to that time had been known, officially, only
as the " collegiate school." The annual grant was reg-
ularly paid until 1755, when, on account of high taxa-
tion, change in the currency, etc., it began to be with-
held ; and, ten years later, a dispute arising in the
Legislature as to whether the college had any claim
upon it for the annuity or arrearages on the same, " the
president and fellows" settled the controversy by a writ-
ten abandonment of all such claims. In return for
this, the Assembly shortly afterwards voted them £245
sterling, towards the building of a chapel. Besides this
and the annuity, it had, during the first half of the
century, by various grants of land and money, given
the college upwards of £2000 sterling. In 1763 cer-
tain persons presented a memorial to the Assembly,
calling upon it to enquire into the affairs of the college,
rectify possible abuses, etc., by means of a " commission
of visitation," which it could legally do, under the com-
mon law, on account of having " founded " the college,
by its grants and patronage. Biit the arguments of
President Clap, in behalf of the independence of the
college and its chartered rights, proved so conclusively
the powerlessness of the Assembly to interfere there-
with, that the idea of anyone save the ten associated
clergymen having "founded" the college was speedily
abandoned, and the memorialists were dismissed with-
out having any action taken concerning their petition.
This decision greatly reassured the friends of the col-
lege ; and the point in dispute has never since been
raised. But the college and its president, for this and
other reasons, grew excessively unpopular ; the students

to FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

were encouraged -to resist authority; and in the summer
of 1766, when all show of subordination was at an end,
the tutors as well as the president resigned, and the
undergraduates dispersed to th§ir homes.

The feeling that the Assembly ought in some way to
share in the management of the college was still cher-
ished, and all sorts of reports derogatory of the corpo-
ration— its want of progressiveness, its sectarian char-
acter, the abuses of its government, and so on — were
freely circulated. At length, in 1778, shortly after the
accession of President Stiles, the corporation, which
had all along looked with favor upon some official con-
nection of the State with the college, met a committee
from the Assembly to discuss the matter. From the
plans proposed then and afterwards nothing resulted,
until 1792, when another committee, appointed the year
before by the Assembly, made a report on the existing
state (»f the college, and of the special facilities ac-
corded them for making the most minute and thor-
ough investigations of its affairs, which greatly pleased
that body. Accordingly, the balance of the uncol-
lected "war taxes" due the State (its war debt having
been assumed by the United States) was appropriated
to the support of the college, with certain reservations
as to time and mode of payment ; and from this grant
upwards of $40,000 was ultimately derived. As a con-
dition of the gift, the governor, lieutenant-governor, and
six senior assistants in the council were to become, by
virtue of their offices, " fellows" or members of the cor-
poration of Yale, with full powers except as to the fill-
ing up of vacancies in the clerical portion of that body.
James Hillhouse, treasurer of the college, was the per-
son chiefly instrumental in the passage of this act, whose
conditions were readily accepted by the existing corpo-
ration, and which — with the unimportant change of

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 11

"six senior assistants in the council" to "six senior sen-
ators," wliich change was rendered necessary by the
new constitution of the State — has remained in force
until the present time. This reunion originally created
a very general satisfaction among all parties, and re-
moved all feelings of distrust and jealousy from the
minds of civilians ; but for a long time past it has had
little practical effect upon the management of the insti-
tution. Except the governor and lieutenant governor,
the civilians who, by virtue of being State officers, are
"members of the corporation," seldom take any inter-
est in its affairs or attend its meetings, and the real
managers are the eleven other " fellows," — the presi-
dent of the college, who is one by virtue of his office,
and the ten Congregational clergymen of Connecti-
cut, who elect their own successors. These are thirty
years old or upwards, and are usually chosen from dif-
ferent towns of the State, and are for the most part
graduates of the college. They are not of necessity
Congregational clergymen, nor even residents of Con-
necticut ; nojr yet is there any rule requiring the* presi-
dent of the college to be a clergyman. But since, from
the foundation of the institution, all the presidents and
trustees have been Congregational clergymen belonging
in the State, it is a generally received opinion that they
are forced to be such by the organic law. The regular
annual meeting of the corporation is held at Commence-
ment time ; and for the rest of the year, except in cases
of special importance, it is supposed to act through its
executive committee.

The question, so much discussed of late, in regard to
the alumni having a direct influence in the affairs of the
college, originated in the proposition of President
Woolsey — in the New Englander for October, 1866 —
that the places of the six ex-officio State senators should

ti FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

be filled by as many alumni, chosen by general vote at
the annual meeting. At the Commencement meeting
of 1869 a committee was appointed to enquire into the
feasibility of the plan ; and this committee, a year later,
reported that it would be feasible in case the Legisla-
ture and the corporation should both give consent ; and
it recommended the order of making elections, in case
the change were adopted. As to whether or not the
same should be adopted, it was about equally divided
in opinion, and so made no report. The matter was
discussed at length, and it was voted not to attempt
making the change. Some resolutions which were of-
fered, looking to the formation of a sort of an Alumni
Council, to serve as a medium between the graduates
and the corporation, but to be entirely distinct from and
independent of the latter, were also voted down. At
the Commencement dinner, two or three speakers — in
behalf of " Young Yale," or the graduates of the past
fifteen years — denounced this display of old-fogyism ;
and ever since then the contest has been going on in
the public prints. Some writers insist that the clergy-
men as well as State senators should resign, and allow
the alumni to elect the entire board ; some ask only for
the resignation of the senators ; and some favor the
idea of an advisory council. But everyone clamors for
alumni representation in the management of the col-
lege, and the institution will be likely to suffer serious
injury if in some form or another this representation is
not granted.

The general policy of the college, however, is shaped
more by the faculty than by the corporation, — the latter
apparently doing little more than to confirm the recom-
niendations of the former. The faculty consisted sim-
ply of the president and two or three tutors, until the
year 1755, when the first professorship — that of Sacred

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 13

Theology — was founded. The next — that of Mathe-
matics and Natural Philosophy and Astronomy — was
founded in 1770, and divided in 1836. Then came the
professorships of Ecclesiastical History, 1777 ; of Law,
1801 ; of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology, 1804, aft-
erwards divided into a half dozen branches ; of Hebrew,
Greek and Latin, 1805, divided in 183 1; of Rhetoric and
English Literature, in 1813 ; of Ethics and Metaphysics,
in 1846; of Modern Languages, in 1863 ; and, finally,
of History, in 1865. These are exclusive of the twenty
or more chairs set up in the various professional
schools, since the opening of the century. The list of
"faculty and instructors" of the entire university now
numbers upwards of sixty names, but the faculty of the
college, or academical department, which is the only
one here treated of, consists of the president, twelve
professors, and half that number of tutors. This body
convenes in " faculty meeting," at the room of the pres-
ident, every Wednesday afternoon, when notes are com-
pared, the results of the week discussed, penalties in-
flicted or remitted, and the general interests of the
college talked over, as well as these special details of
instruction and government. At these " executive ses-
sions" of the active rulers of college, are originated and
perfected most of the measures which ultimately affect
its welfare, as " enactments of the corporation." On
the grave and reverend shoulders of this latter body,
also, is sometimes thrown the odium of hostility to re-
forms which the faculty are not really in favor of, but
which they simply profess their inability to make "with-
out the consent of the corporation" — a consent they
take no pains to secure. For example, when asked to
do away with the absurd rule forbidding a student to
take his meals at a public house, without pretending to
seriously defend the rule, they say that the corporation

l6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

divided into two recitation, and two college officers',
rooms ; the second was divided into two more recita-
tion rooms (with small chambers connected with them,
in which slept the students who used the public rooms
as their studies) and two dormitories ; and the first
was divided into dormitories only. Most of these were
occupied by indigent Freshmen, and the recitation
rooms were devoted to the freshman class alone. In
the summer of 1870 the inside of the building was
agam torn out, and its entire space equally divided into
four freshman recitation rooms, two on, each floor, six
long windows being allotted to each room. The rear en-
trance, closed in 1824, was reopened, and an unbroken
partition was placed between the two rooms entered
from that direction and the two entered from the front.
In the old times, the society libraries, as well as the
philosophical apparatus of* the college, were stored in
the building, and the tower was largely used as an ob-
servatory. More recently it had been rather neglected,
owing to the better facilities afforded by the revolving
tower of iron and the telescope at the Sheffield Hall,
and to the fact that the growth of trees had narrowed
the field of view. In November of last year the latter
defect was remedied by the erection of a revolving
tower of wood, upon the top of the previous tower.
From this elevated observatory an extensive view of
New Haven can be secured, and the field of view for
astronomical work is entirely unobstructed. With all
these changes and improvements the Athenaeum natur-
ally presents the most patched-up and unsightly outward
appearance of any building on the college grounds.

South College was the third one of the row, and its
corner stone, laid with appropriate speeches and cere-
monies, and supposed to rest beneath the north-eastern
angle of the building, is said to bear this inscription :

mSTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 17

" Ezra Stiles, Coll. Yal. Prseses. Primvm Lapidem
posvit, Acad. Cond. 93, Apr. 15, 1793." It was com-
pleted July 17, following, and was named "Union
Hall" in commemoration of the union of State and
church in the college corporation. Rutherford Trow-
bridge was the builder. When the erection of South
was commenced, " a close fence of panneled boards,
painted red and relieved by cross stripes of white, sur-
rounded the college yard, which extended no further
than to the north end of South Middle. Beyond was a
grotesque group, generally of the most undesirable es-
tablishments, among which were a barn, a barber's
shop, several coarse taverns or boarding houses, a poor-
house and house of correction, and the public jail with
its prison yard ; the jail being used alike for criminals,
for maniacs and debtors. Being very near the college,
the moans of innocent prisoners, the cries of felons,
and the shrill screams and wild laughter of the insane,
were sometimes mingled with the sacred songs of praise
and with the voice of prayer, rising from the academic
edifices." But, in 1800, the corporation had by pur-
chase secured the removal of many of these objection-
able neighbors, and so decided upon the erection of two
new buildings, both of which were finished in 1803.
The first of them, North Middle, was named " Berkeley
Hall," in honor of Bishop Berkeley, and the other, " the
Connecticut Lyceum," — which title, abbreviated to Ly-
ceum, it still retains. It somewhat resembles the
Athenaeum, though built in better proportion, having
a front of 46 and a depth of 56 feet, and the gables
of its roof being at right angles to each other. It is
three stories high, and is supplied with a tower in which
are the college bell and clock. The room of the bell
ringer, upon the second floor, is the only one used as a
dormitory, though upon the third floor are two office

l8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

rooms for the faculty, in connection with the two recita-
tion rooms into which the long room stretching across
the building, and serving first for a library and then for
a " rhetorical chamber," was divided in 1851. At that
time the whole interior of the building was rearranged,
and gas and furnace heat were first introduced into both
it and the Chapel. The senior recitation room on the
second floor became the sophomore mathematical cham-
ber, and the two junior rooms on the same floor were
enlarged. On the ground floor, the president's lecture
room was formed by joining two smaller rooms and
shutting up the rear entrance to" the building, while the
. two remaining sophomore rooms were enlarged. North
College was finished in the fall of 182 1, or within a year
from the time the corporation voted to build it, and was
never endowed with any fancy name. A similar length
of time was employed in constructing the Chapel, which
was dedicated November 17, 1824. It has a front of
56 and a depth of 72 feet, and, including the galleries,
is three stories in hight, the upper story, above the
main audience room, containing a dozen dormitories.
Above these is the attic, whither the library was trans-
ferred from the Lyceum. The steeple of the building
is about 120 feet in hight. Divinity College, the last
on the row, was built in 1835, ^^^ had to be torn down
during the summer of 1870, to make way for the new
stone dormitory.

The four dormitory buildings or colleges — South,
South Middle, North Middle and North — are all of the
same general appearance and description, as was the
fifth — Divinity — before its demolition. Each is about
100 feet long by 40 feet wide, and four stories high.
Each has 54 windows and two doors on each side, and
eight windows at each end, — except South Middle,
whose 16 "corner rooms" have each one window less

fflSTORICAL AJVD EXPLANATORY. 19

than those of the other colleges. Each has two halls
or "entries" running through it, and each entry gives
access to 16 rooms, four on a floor, — there being 32
rooms or " chambers" in each college. " A chamber"
usually comprises — in addition to the main sitting
room, into which the entrance door from the hall di-
rectly opens — two bed rooms, a coal closet, a clothes
press or wardrobe, a wash room, etc. ; in all, five or six
apartments. The number, size and arrangement of
these varies somewhat in the different colleges. Each
college is equally divided into " corner" and " middle"
rooms, and of course into " front" and " back" rooms,
and any particular chamber in a college is indicated by
reference to these two facts, in connection with the po-
sition of the entry, and the number of the floor. A
single series of numbers is employed to designate all
the college rooms. It extends from south to north, and
from the front lower to the back upper room of each
entry. There are of course 128 rooms in the four col-
leges, and these are numbered continuously, without
reference to the three intermediate buildings. Hence
"No. i" is "South, south entry, first floor, front, corner
room ;" while " No. 128" is North, north entry, fourth
floor, back, corner room." The rooms corresponding
to I S. are t,^ S. M., 65 N. M. and 97 N. ; and those to

128 N. are 96 N. M., 64 S. M., 32 S. ; and so on for the
others. The 32 rooms in old Divinity were numbered
on continuously to 160; the old Athenaeum rooms ex-
tended from 161 to 173; the Lyceum rooms from 174
to 185 ; and the Chapel rooms from 186 to 195 — the
highest number reached. After the destruction of Di-
vinity and the erection of the new Farnam College,
however, the 49 rooms in the latter were numbered from

129 to 177 ; the Lyceum rooms from 178 to 185 ; and
the Chapel rooms remain as before. The four recitation

20 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

rooms in the remodeled Athenaeum are now lettered in-
stead of numbered. Each of the colleges has an attic and
— except North — a cellar, which are used for purposes
of storage. Each entry of the three colleges possessed
of cellars is supplied with water closets, which improve-
ments were added in the fall of 1870. North is the only
college having a slate roof, the others being shingled.

Of the half dozen buildings in the rear of the
brick row, the oldest is the Laboratory, built in 1782.
for a dining hall and kitchen, and standing behind the
Athenaeum. It is of brick, painted yellowish white, one
story and a half high, 90 feet long and 30 feet wide,
with an irregular addition upon the west side. It orig-
inally measured 60 by 30 feet, — the size of the pres-
ent lecture room. In this the seats are very close
together and rise rapidly, so that a class of a hundred
persons can sit in full view of the lecturer. The room
is arched, and its greatest elevation is eighteen feet.
There are two or three other rooms and offices, and a
cellar extends underneath the whole. Since the fall of
1870 one of the college janitors, with his family, has oc-
cupied a portion of the premises. The building has
been put to its present use since 18 19, when the Cabi-
net was erected, and the kitchen and dining hall trans-
ferred thither. This edifice, covered with yellowish
stucco, is 86 feet long and 45 feet broad, and stands be-
hind South Middle and the Lyceum. Besides the base-
ment, where the cooking was formerly done, and the
attic, it comprises two full stories ; the upper one being
devoted to the mineralogical cabinet, as at first, and the
lower one — which served as the dining hall, until the
abolition of Commons in 1843 — containing two sopho-
more recitation rooms, and the " philosophical chamber,"
which is the largest lecture room upon the college
grounds. Directly behind the Chapel is another stuc-

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 2 1

coed building, bluish brown in color, now called the
Treasury, but originally Trumbull Gallery. Its meas-
urements are 65 by 35 feet, and it is two stories in
hight. It was built in 1832, to receive the historical
paintings of Colonel Trumbull, which that artist had
presented to the college the year before, on the condi-
tion that the proceeds of their exhibition should go for
the benefit of indigent students ; though admission to
the gallery was ultimately made free to all. The upper
story of the building was divided into two large apart-
ments, lighted from above, in one of which were the
Trumbull paintings, in the other, portraits of various
college benefactors, and miscellaneous pictures. Below
were offices for the treasurer and steward, a recitation
room for the Theologues, etc. The steward's office is
now used as a dormitory by an indigent student who
has charge of the key-box. In 1868, all the paintings
having been removed to the Art Building, the vacated
apartments were changed into three offices, for the col-
lege treasurer, pastor and president, in the latter of
which all the faculty meetings are now held. The
rooms below are packed with " specimens" which can-
not be displayed in the over-crowded Cabinet. At the
time of the change, windows were let in to the sides of
the second story, thereby removing from the building its
former tomb-like appearance. Perhaps it was pur-
posely built to resemble a mausoleum, for, at his own
request, the remains of Colonel Trumbull and his wife
were buried and now rest beneath it.

The first one of the college structures making any
pretensions to architectural beauty was the Library, be-
gun in 1842. The absolute necessity of providing some
safe place for the books, which, after the transfers al-
ready noted, were then lying in the attic of the Chapel,
as well as for the society libraries in the Athenaeum, in-

22 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

duced a few friends of the college to start a subscrip-
tion for the erection of a fire-proof building. After
$13,000 had been raised, it was thought impolitic to
press the subscription further, on account of "hard
times" ; but, with the consent of the subscribers, the
corporation voted to begin the work at once, upon a lib-
eral scale, and trust to the future to finish it. Accord-
ingly they were enabled, within a year's time, by ex-
pending all their money, to put up the walls and roof,
and fit up a single apartment for the temporary recep-
tion of the books. The inside was finally completed
and arranged in 1846-47, but the ornamental turrets
without have remained unfinished to the present time.
Situated exactly in the center of the High street side of
the college yard, " the whole pile extends its front, in-
cluding the buttresses above the base, 151 feet. The
front of the main building, measured in the same way,
is 5 1 feet ; and its depth from front to rear is 95 feet.
The front of each of the extreme wings is 30 feet and the
depth 67 feet. The connecting wings are each 26 by 40
feet between the walls ; and the extreme hight of the four
chief towers is 91 feet. The main building, designed to
contain the college library, includes only one room, the
interior measurement of which is 41 by 83 feet. It re-
sembles in form a Gothic chapel, with its nave and aisles ;
the hight of the nave is 59 feet, its breadth 17 feet.
Between the clustered pillars of the nave are alcoves,
fourteen in number, and each ten by twelve feet in ex-
tent. A gallery extends on all sides of the room and
contains the same number of alcoves. The ceiling is
finished with groined arches." Each of the extreme
wings is a copy of this central room, and is supplied
with smaller alcoves and gallery. The northern one is
occupied by "Brothers," the southern by "Linonia."
The usual entrance to the main building is through the

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 23

northern connecting wing, which serves as a librarian's
office, and general consulting room. The southern con-
necting wing was originally occupied by " Calliope," but
is now used for the storing of pamphlets, duplicates,
and works which are seldom referred to. In i860, the
wings were connected by an inner passage-way, but as
the iron doors are always locked, the different apart-
ments of the building are in effect as isolated as ever.
Its walls are of red sandstone, from the quarries at
Portland, on the Connecticut ; and its entire cost was
about $30,000. Exclusive of the 35,000 books in the so-
ciety and department libraries, the college now pos-
sesses about 60,000 volumes and 20,000 pamphlets.
Beginning with the 40 folios which founded the college
in 1700, the library had increased to 26,000 volumes in
1743, when the first catalogue was published, and to
12,500, a century later. A good many books were lost,
at times when the college was temporarily disbanded, so
that by the catalogue of 1791 there were only 2700, al-
though there had been 4000 in 1766.

In line with the Library, in the north west angle of
the college yard, corner of Elm and High streets, stands
Alumni Hall ; like it, built of red sandstone, and, like
it, and the Treasury, roofed with tin. The need of some
larger hall than any then existing, becoming imperative
with the introduction of " biennials," President Woolsey
drew up a plan of a two-storied building, having a large
hall below for general college purposes and two smaller
ones above, for the societies of " Linonia" and " Broth-
ers," which promised to bear a share of the expense.
The plan was modified, so as to allow a third upper
hall, for " Calliope," and the building was completed
in 1853, — by which time the third society was dead,
and the money it had advanced was refunded to its ex-
ecutors. The structure measures 100 by 52 feet, and

24 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

two towers, 75 feet high, stand beside its principal
entrance. Within these, winding staircases lead to the
society halls, which are also accessible in the rear by
a third stairway, situated within the central projection,
40 feet wide, which juts out 12 feet on the High street
side of the building, and corresponds to the towers on
the front side. This projection also gives a place for
a small gallery overlooking the main hall. The latter
is said to be the largest one in the country, having oc-
cupied-rooms above unsupported by anything save the
outer walls. Perhaps it was well that the experiment
was never put to the crucial test by the constant use
of the central (Calliope) hall above ; for at the time of
holding the " sanitary fair" in February, 1864, when the
upper rooms were all crowded, a portion of the floor
perceptibly " settled," and care had to be taken to dis-
tribute the spectators more equally throughout the
building. The roof is not visible from below, and the
cornices, in the form of battlements, which surround it
and the towers, are constructed of wood, instead of
stone as was originally planned. In the main hall,
where examinations, alumni meetings, etc., are held, are
hung the coats-of-arms of all the States, and the por-
traits of various benefactors, graduates and officers of
the college. The cost of the building was a little more
than $27,000, of which the college paid $16,000, the
Linonia society $5800, and the Brothers $5500.

Corresponding to this structure, in the south west
angle of the yard, corner of Chapel and High streets,
stands the Art Building, the handsomest edifice which the
college or the city can boast of. Its corner stone — con-
taining a copper box, wherein were deposited various
mementos of the occasion ; coins, medals, pamphlets
and newspapers — was laid, with due ceremony, Novem-
ber 16, 1864 > the roofs were put on by the close of the

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY, 25

following year ; and the entire work was accepted by
the corporation as " finished," just before the Com-
mencement of 1866 ; though it was a year later before
the " opening reception" was held and the public ad-
mitted to the galleries. " The general shape of the
building is this : the south wing, fronting on Chapel
street, is a building 34 by 80 feet in size, exclusive of
projections ; the north wing is a building 36 by 76 feet in
size, exclusive of projections, and stands considerably
in advance of the other wing on the college grounds.
The two are connected by an intermediate building, 44
by 80 feet in -size. The general form is that of the let-
ter-H, in which the right-hand stroke together with
the cross stroke are somewhat dropped. The exte-
rior is much broken in outline, but is extremely plain in
its details. With the exception of the Chapel street
entrance, it can scarcely be said to have any ornaments,
everything that is seen being for some constructive pur-
pose. The north wing, however, has an addition in the
form of a tower, which forms the entrance from the col-
lege grounds, and connects with the main hall by a cor-
ridor covered with a lean-to roof At the angles of the
wings are small turrets, serving as ventilators, which, to-
gether with the larger tower, are still unfinished. On
the ChajDcl street side is a projection, which forms a
porch on the first story, and a small room in the second
story, and is terminated with a gable roof. The two
wing buildings are covered with hipped roofs, the upper
halves of wdiich are of iron and glass. Th^ connecting
building is covered with a four-pitched roof. The whole
building is very massive, both in its materials and ef-
fects. The base-course and basement walls under
ground are of North Haven stone, the facing of all the
exterior walls is of Belleville (N. J.,) sandstone, and the
water-tables, sills, lin<tels, labels, etc., are of Connecticut
3

26 FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

river sandstone. The arches are of alternate Belleville
and Cleveland stone. The columns of the front porch
are of Gloucester (Mass.) granite, and the capitals are
carved with original designs after natural foliage, in
Cleveland stone. The roof is slated. The timber
throughout is of Pennsylvania white pine. The floors
are of oak and black walnut, and the inside finish of
the halls and stairs is of chestnut. The architecture is
in the style advocated by the 'rationalistic school,'
whose aim is to give prominent expression to the con-
structive features of buildings, and to revive the system
of decoration in use in the 13th century."' Underneath
the whole building is a basement, 12 feet high, divrded
into lecture rooms, modeling rooms, etc., besides the
halls and stairways, and fuel and furnace rooms. Its
outer entrance is beside the tower. The first story is
16 feet high, and is divided into studios, professor's and
curator's rooms, and a lecture room 80 feet square, from
which, if desired, three studios can be formed by the
erection of screens. " The second story hall, reached
by a broad stairway, is 14 feet wide, 44 feet long and 15
feet high, and from it all the exhibition rooms can be
entered. At the end of the hall are the entrances to
the two large sky-light galleries, and on the side are
two entrances to the long room for engravings and pho-
tographs. This room is of the same size as the hall,
and also connects the two large galleries. The north
gallery measures 22 by 72 feet, is 21 feet high to the
highest point of the curved ceiling, and 32 feet high to
the peak of the skylight. The walls upon which the
pictures are hung are 16 feet in hight, three feet of
which are occupied by the wainscoting. At one end of
this room is an oriel window, projecting beyond the wall
of the building, and affording an excellent viev/ of the
college grounds. Nearby is a private door, connecting

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 27

with a small room in the tower, to which access can
also be had by means of a corridor under the lean-to
roof. The tower affords access to the roof and attic,
which latter is a large room, thus far unoccupied. The
south gallery measures 30 by 76 feet, and is similar in-
every way to the other, except that it is 35 feet in
hight to the peak of the skylight. Opening out of this
gallery, and over the front entrance, is a small room af-
fording an excellent view of the street. The front win-
dow of this room goes down to the floor and opens
upon a stone balcony." The building has thus far cost
about $200,000, or more than twice what was estimated
at the outset ; but, fortunately for the college, the donor
— Augustus R. Street, of the class of 18 12 — continued
to add to his original appropriation of $80,000, as the
necessity of the w^ork required, and provided in his will
for its ultimate completion. He died June 12, 1866,
and his entire gifts to the college amount to upwards
of $280,000, — by far the largest sum ever received by
the institution from any single source. He did not de-
sire that his chief monument should be caHed by his
name, however, but simply entitled it " Yale School of
the Fine Arts," and this name, with the date " A. D.
1864," is inscribed upon the large slab at the base of
the oriel window. Since his death, a marble tablet in
commemoration of his gift, has been let into the wall of
the lower hall, near the entrance. The architect of the
Art Building was P. B. Wight of New York, and the
masons were Perkins & Chatfield, who al:o did the ma-
sonry for the Library and Alumni Hall.

Besides the fourteen buildings already described, the
only others within the yard, while '69 was in college,
were the two wooden dwelling-houses, — situated be-
tween the Library and Art Building, and facing on High
street, — one of which is carried on as a boarding house

28 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

under the direction of the college authorities. For a
quarter of a century, the need of new dormitory build-
ings had been recognized and talked about, until in
1868 it was decided to begin active measures for the re-
construction of the college yard, and ground for a new
dormitory was staked out, in front of South Middle and
the Lyceum. It was to be one link in a chain of build-
ings which were ultimately to surround the square, and
so — after the demolition of the eight " factories" and
the three inferior structures behind them — enclose a
large open rectangle within. But the ground had
hardly been staked out and the general plan of recon-
struction made public, when a cry was raised in the
newspapers that the beauty of the college green — the
pride of the city — would be ruined thereby ; and the
champions of the elms exhorted the authorities to put
up their murderous axes and spare those noble trees.
The work, begun after twenty years' deliberation, was
accordingly postponed once more, and an extensive dis-
cussion was for several months carried on, in regard to
the advisa-bility of removing the site of the college to
the outskirts of the city. The result of it was, that,
after the fullest consideration of all the points involved,
it was decided by the authorities that while, on the
whole, the removal would be advantageous to the insti-
tution, the state of its finances rendered any such re-
moval practically impossible. In accordance with this
decision — which may be accepted as final — the original
plan of reconstruction was reverted to, after a year's de-
la}^, and on Monday morning, August 2, 1869, ground
was quietly broken for the building which is expected
to introduce " a new dormitory system" at Yale. Only
three elms were cut down to give room for it, and the
appearance of the yard, as seen from Chapel street, is
not materially altered by its presence. It sets back 20

HISTORICAL A.VD EX PLANA TORY. 29

feet from College street, and 100 feet from Elm, thus
leaving room for the proposed Memorial Chapel upon
the corner, and of course stands in front of North Col-
lege and the open space between it and Divinity's
former site. Exclusive of projections, it measures 174
by 37 feet, and is four stories in hight, besides a light
basement and Mansard slated roof, which is surmounted
by a pair of turrets, also slated. The walls are of
brick, laid in cement, and trimmed with dark blue
stone from the Hudson river, as well as the common
Portland free stone, while the slabs above the entrances
are of Westchester (N. Y.) marble, and the pillars which
support them are of polished granite. The entrances
are approached from the inner side of the college yard
and are three in number, corresponding to the number
of stairways which are situated in these projections,
which are rounded on the College street side and an-
gular upon the inner front. There are 49 studies or
parlors in the building, each measuring 13 by 16 feet,
and all but nine of them are supplied with a pair of
bedrooms — each of which has a window of its own —
and clothes' closets. The nine rooms without these
appendages are situated in the stairways, and serve
mostly as offices for members of the faculty. In the
basement, to which there are two entrances from the
street front, the janitor lives with his family. The fur-
nace and water closets are also situated there. All the
rooms are heated by steam and lighted by gas, and are
said to be more perfectly ventilated than those of any
other building in New Haven. They were first occu-
pied on the opening of the fall term of 1870. Twelve
months later it is hoped that the finishing touches will
have been given to the "Durfee College, the excavation
for which was begun upon the afternoon of the second
day of May, 1870, This is the largest structure in. the

32 FOUR YEARS 'AT YALE.

Connected with the college are four professional
"schools" or "departments," of which it naturally hap-
pens that the oldest is the Theological. The college
itself was founded by ministers, for training young men
for the ministry ; theology was one of the chief under-
graduate studies ; and the first professorship established
was that of Divinity, in 1755. The first three incum-
bents of the office — the third of whom also served at
the same time as president of the college — were in the
habit of " conducting a number of resident graduates
through a course of theological studies such as was con-
sidered in those times a competent preparation for the
pastoral office," and when the fourth was installed, in
1817, "the instruction of theological students was dis-
tinctly included among his duties." In 1822, the de-
partment was formally organized by the corporation, in
response to a petition from fifteen would-be Theologues.
It now numbers a half-dozen professors and about fifty
students, and in all upwards of 800 students have been
connected with it. Its annual session of eight months
extends from September to May, when a public anni-
versary is held. The latter feature w^as introduced in
1867, or rather revived then after being omitted for a
dozen years or more. Then, too, for the first time the
corporation conferred the degree of D.B. (Bachelor of
Divinity) upon those who had completed the three
3-ears' course. Divinity College was erected for the
Theologues, in 1835, and no rent was charged those
who occupied its dormitories. Some of its rooms were
put to public service for the holding of lectures and
recitations, and these were likewise held in various
apartments of the other buildings, at such seasons and
hours as found them vacated by their regular occu-
pants.

All these drawbacks, however, have recently been

HlSTOklCAL AND EXPLANATORY. 33

put an end to by the completion of a new building,
whose corner stone was laid September 22, i860, —
ground having been broken, July 13, previous. It
stands on the north-west corner of College and Elm
streets, measuring 164 feet on the former by 43 feet on
the latter, and setting back about a dozen feet from
both. The dimensions of its lot — which is enclosed by
an ornamented iron fence — are 195 by iio feet, and
space is thus afforded for the additions which it is pro-
posed hereafter to make to the building. Its wings are
five stories — and 75 feet — in hight ; the middle portion
has only four stories. It is warmed throughout by
steam and lighted by gas, and fire-places are also pro-
vided in all the rooms. There are about 50 of these dor-
mitories, besides lecture, reading and library rooms,
corridors, janitor's office, bath rooms, water-closets, etc.
The walls are of brick, red and black, trimmed with
Nova Scotia stone, and the roofs are of slate, sur-
mounted by an iron railing. The architect was Richard
M. Hunt of New York, and the entire cost of the
structure was $130,000. . The original plan of the
building contemplated the erection on lilm street of a
small but tasteful chapel, and in February of the pres-
ent year Francis Marquand of Southport offered to sup-
ply the necessary funds ($25,000) for its erection. Work
was shortly afterwards begun upon it, and it is expected
that the building will be ready for use at the opening of
the new year in September. By the enterprise of the
ladies belonging to some of the city churches, all the
dormitories were comfortably and even elegantly fitted
up with carpets, bed, bedding, and every necessary ar-.
tide of furniture. A few of the parlors have two bed-
rooms attached to them, but in general provision is made
for each student to have a parlor and bedroom by himself.
There is no charge for rent, tuition, or the use of libra-

34 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ries ; and those who require it receive a dollar a week
towards the expense of board, and have their washing
done free of charge. They also receive $ioo a year
from the income of scholarships and other funds, and
an additional $ioo a year in case they are the benefici-
aries of the American Educational Society. " In gen-
eral it may be said, that sufficient aid will be provided
for every young man who gives promise of usefulness
in the ministry, to enable him, in connection with his
own efforts, to complete a course of theological study."
The endowed scholarships bear respectively the names
of James Hillhouse, William Leffingwell, George E.
Dunham, Normand Smith, E. E. Salisbury, Thomas R.
Trowbridge, Charles Atwater, Richard Borden, Samuel
Holmes, Roland Mather, Noah Porter, John DeForest,
J. R. Beadle, and David Root.

The Law School grew out" of the main college in
much the same way as the one just described. In 1801
a professor of Law was appointed ; not for the purpose
of training undergraduates for the bar, but rather of
giving lectures to them on the general principles of law
and governmoiit, — a practice which is still kept up.
He resigned his office at the expiration of nine years.
The next incumbent did not begin his duties until
1826, when he opened a private class for law students,
which has since been recognized as the beginning of
the present school. In all, about 1400 students have
been connected with it, of whom 280 have been admit-
ted to the degree of LL.B, (Bachelor of Laws), which
was first conferred in 1848. The regular course occu-
.pies two years, and the year corresponds with that of
the college, except that it is divided into two terms in-
stead of three. Those -who before entering the depart-
ment, have taken the degree of A. B., Ph.B., or B.S., at
any college, receive their degree after an attendance of

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 35

three terms ; members of the bar, after an attendance
of two terms ; all others, after the full course of four
-terms. The faculty consists of the president, a pro-
fessor and three lecturers or instructors. The rooms of
the school are in the Leffingvvell Building, corner of
Church and Court streets. Its special library numbers
about 2000 volumes. "At present the department is
not only without funds of its own, but is in debt to the
general fund of the college."

The Medical Institution, though third in the order of
development, was the first of the professional schools
to get into active operation. As early as 1806 the pro-
priety of establishing a course of lectures for the ben-
efit of medical students was discussed by the corpo-
ration, but it was thought best to secure the assistance of
the State Medical Society, before taking any action.
Accordingly, four years later, that society joined with
the corporation in applying for a change of charter, and
the present "school" was founded. Its organization
was completed in the fall of 1812, and a year later the
first course of lectures was delivered. The faculty con-
sists of the president and eight professors, while a like
number of doctors chosen by the State Medical Society
— of which the president thereof is always one-^are ad-
ditional members of the examining board. The degree
of M.Di (Doctor of Medicine) has been conferred on
800 individuals, — about a third of the whole number
ever connected with the school. For the past few years
it has had about 30 students ; in 1822 it had three times
that number. Every candidate for a degree must have
studied medicine for two years, — or for three years if
not a college graduate, — and must have attended two
full courses of medical lectures, at least one of them at
Yale. In 18 14 the Legislature appropriated to the
school $20,000 of a $50,000 bonus, which the State re-

36 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ceived from the Phoenix bank of Hartford for its char-
ter. With these and other funds contributed by indi-
viduals— of which the largest single gift was $5000 —
was purchased, of James Hillhouse who built it, the
square stone edifice on Grove street, at the foot of Col-
lege, now occupied by the Scientific School. It was
sold to Mr. Sheffield for the latter purpose in 1859, and
with the proceeds was erected the present Medical Col-
lege on York street. This is a stucco building, 53
feet square and three stories high, containing a commo-
dious lecture room, lighted from the top, an extensive
anatomical museum, dissecting rooms, offices, etc.
" The remaining property of the institution, invested
principally in bank stocks, yields an income of about
$1000 annually, which is inadequate even to its current
and necessary miscellaneous expenses."

Youngest but most important of the departments is
that of Philosophy and the Arts, or as it commonly
termed, the Sheffield Scientific School. Preparations
were made for commencing it in 1846, but the first stu-
dents were received at the beginning of the following
academic year. For a long time before this. Prof Sil-
liman, Sr., had been in the habit of instructing a private
class of young men, who desired a more thorough and
extended course in natural science than was furnished
in the regular curriculum. Such special students were
allowed the privilege of the libraries, cabinets, etc.,
though not officially recognized as members of the in-
stitution. At the Commencement of 1847, the corpo-
ration voted to establish a " Department of Philosophy
and the Arts," under the direction of two professors,
one of whom — B. Silliman, Jr. — had for five years been
privately conducting a special class in chemistry ; and
the old president's house, vacated the year before, was
fitted up as a laboratory for their use. There were

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 37

eleven students the first year, six of whom were college
graduates. Of the eight who completed the course, six
were given the degree of Ph.B. (Bachelor of Philoso-
phy) in 1852, and count as the earliest graduates of the
school, in which three of them are now professors. In
1852 a professor of Civil Engineering was appointed,
and began his instructions, in the attic of the Chapel,
with 26 students. Two years afterwards, his classes
were associated with the chemical students under the
name of "Yale Scientific School," in which they have
since formed a distinct " section." The end of ten
years found the new department possessed of a half-
dozen professors and instructors, but, as from the very
first, almost entirely without endowment. At this crisis,
Joseph E. Sheffield, who had been the school's best
patron, came forward with an offer to provide a build-
ing and permanent fund. He accordingly bought the
old Medical College, at the head of College street, had
it refitted, added two large wings, provided a large
amount of apparatus, and gave a fund of $50,000 for
the maintenance of three professorships. The building
was taken possession of in the summer of i860. Five
years later, it was enlarged by the addition of a three-
story structure to connect the wings, two towers, and
other improvements. The front tower is 90 feet high
and 16 feet square, contains a belfry-clock with four
dials, and is surmounted by a revolving turret in which
an equatorial telescope is placed. The north-western
tower, of the same dimensions and 50 feet high, was
built for the reception of a meridian circle. The ex-
treme length of the edifice, measured from this tower
to the east side, is I'ly feet, and the extreme depth is
112 feet. The original building of stone and the addi-
tions of brick are alike covered with brownish stucco.
In purchasing and refitting this structure and endowing

38 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the school — to both of which by vote of the corporation
in i860 his name was applied — Mr. Sheffield has ex-
pended upwards of $175,000. His own residence, en-
tered from Hillhouse avenue, closely adjoins the prem-
ises.

Connecticut's share — 180,000 acres — of the Con-
gressional land-grant of 1863 was ultimately transferred
to the school, which now enjoys the income of the $135,-
000 derived from the sale of it. In return for this,
forty free State-scholarships were established, and the
governor, lieutenant-governor, the three senior senators
and the secretary of the State board of education, were
constituted a " board of visitation" on the part of the
State. For their benefit an annual report is prepared
and printed, — the first one being issued in 1866. The
governing board or faculty consists of the president, a
dozen professors, and half as many other instructors.
For the past few years the number of students has been
about 140, and 27 graduated in the class of '69. The
regular course, for the degree of Ph.B., is three years
in length, — the last two years being divided into seven
distinct departments or "sections," and each man choos-
ing for himself which of them he will follow. An ad-
ditional year in the Engineering Section secures the
degree of C. E. (Civil Engineer), which was first con-
ferred in 1867. The anniversary exercises are held in
Sheffield Hall, on the Monday before the college Com-
mencement, thoQgh the degrees are not conferred until
the latter occasion. Besides the three regular classes
of undergraduates, there is a fourth class of "special
students, not candidates for a degree," and an advanced
class, composed of graduates of the school, the col-
lege, and other similar institutions. The " second sec-
tion" of the Department of Philosophy and the Arts —
in which, if anywhere, lie the germs of a future univer-

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 39

sity — has been rather overshadowed by the rapid growth
of the first or Scientific School section. No regular
courses of study have as yet been provided for it, but
the Bachelor candidates for its degree, Ph.D. (Doctor
of Philosophy), must read for two years at New Haven,
under the direction of the faculty, and at the end of
that time pass a satisfactory examination in at least two
distinct.branches of learning. During the past ten years,
seventeen persons have received this degree, though
it was not conferred upon any one in 1864 ^"d '65.

Sheffield Hall being entirely taken up with recitation
and lecture rooms, laboratories, cabinets, library and
reading rooms, professors' studies, observatories, corri-
dors, etc., the students have all been obliged to occupy
rooms out in town, but a large brick block in the vi-
cinity, which supplies lodging rooms for quite a large
number of them, serves as a sort of headquarters and
rendezvous, and in some slight way supplies the want
of a regular dormitory building. Before the demolish-
ment of Divinity College had been decided upon, it was
proposed to surrender to them its 32 dormitories, which
the Theologues were to have no further use for, after the
opening of the new Divinity building ; but had the plan
been carried out, it is not likely that their introduction
into the college yard would have introduced them to
the acquaintance of the regular college students. The
latter have thus far been wont, as it were, to look down
upon them, as being in a sense their inferiors. Withouf
any open show of hostility, a sort of keep-your-distance
air of the college men towards the students of the
school effectively repels the latter. Both frequently
meet together at the boat house and gymnasium, and
less often in the lecture room, but they do not mingle,
and few acquaintanceships are formed. Occasionally
it happens that a member of the school " runs with" a

40 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

particular college class, for two or three years, and be-
comes in a measure identified with it, but the fact only
renders it the more evident that there is no general as-
sociation between the two species of undergraduates.
A sentiment analogous to " class feeling" clearly separates
them from each other. In the three other departments
the students are older than those in college, and the
latter naturally have nothing to do with them. The
students in Law and Medicine . are seldom known or
thought of at all, any more than townies ; but the Theo-
logues are the traditional objects of a sort of good-
natured derision. To speak of them as monsters of
vice and iniquity, has been a favorite practice from time
immemorial.

The funds by which the college has been suj^ported
have been derived almost exclusively from individuals.
The entire gifts of every sort made by the Common-
wealth of Connecticut in the course of 170 years, have
only amounted to $100,000, of which the $20,000 be-
stow^ed on the Medical School was expended by State
commissioners, and not controlled by the corporation
at all. The last gift — of $7000, made in 1831 — was
of money received by the State as a bonus for a bank
charter, and almost all the previous donations had been
of a similar character, — made from unexpended resour-
ces, and not requiring a special appropriation from the
State treasury. Undoubtedly the annuity granted to
the institution during its first half century was the most
valuable State aid it has ever received. The income of
the $135,000 accruing to the Scientific School from the
sale of public lands under the Congressional act of
1863, completes the sum total of public benefactions
conferred upon the institution. Private generosity alone
has kept it alive, though the bequest of $10,000 for the
library, received in 1S34, by the will of Alfred E. Per-

. HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 41

kins of '30, was by fiir the largest individual gift re-
corded, up to that time. Recently there have been
many others of equal or larger amounts, of which those
of Joseph E. Sheffield ($175,000, for the Scientific
School), and Augustus R. Street ($280,000^ for the Art
School, a professorship of Modern Languages, and a
Theological professorship) have been already noted.
Next to them in importance is the gift made by George
Peabody in 1866, — $150,000, for a Museum of Natural
History. The conditions of this bequest are that not
more than $100,000 shall be expended in the erection
of the first section of a fire-proof building; that $20,-
000 shall be left to accumulate to at least five times that
amount, when it shall be expended in completing the
building ; and that $30,000 shall be permanently in-
vested for the support of the Museum. A dormitory
fund of $100,000 from Bradford M. C. Durfee, a non-
graduate of '67 ; a similar fund of $40,000 from Henry
Farnam ; a chapel fund of $36,000 from Joseph Battell ;
a $30,000 pastor's professorship from Simeon E. Chit-
tenden ; a gift of $25,000 to the Theologues from Wil-
liam A. Buckingham, and fourteen other gifts of not
less than $5000 each, comprised the most important
additions to the college property in the eight years fol-
lowing i860. More recently a fund of $50,000 has
been given by William Phelps, the annual income of
which is to be spent by the college under the direction
of his son, William W. Phelps of '60, during the latter's
life time, and is finally to fall wholly into the control of
the authorities. For the Scientific School, too, about
$125,000 has been raised in sums of varying amounts,
and among other things the professorship of Sanscrit
has thereby been placed upon the respectable foundation
of $50,000. In February of the present year Francis
Marquand presented the $25,000 already mentioned for

42 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the construclioii of a chapel for the Theologues. Every
one of these large gifts being for a specific purpose, the
availability of the general fund of the college has been
diminished rather than increased by their reception.
It now amounts to but $300,000 — a sum whose income
is far too small to meet the every day necessities of the
college, the total professorship endowments of which
are only $125,000. In 1831, when poverty was bring-
ing the college to death's door, a desperate attempt to
lift it from bankruptcy resulted in the raising of a
$100,000 fund, from 600 separate subscribers, in
amounts varying from $5000 to $4 each. In 1853,
another crisis was averted by the raising of a similar
fund of $150,000. And now, for a third time, the ne-
cessity seems imperative of making a combined effort
to increase the general fund. Had this been managed
in the past with anything but the shrewdest and closest
economy, the college would have been dead and buried,
years ago. Perhaps the very fact that it has been made
to " go so far" has induced the prevalent belief in its
practical inexhaustibleness ; for of all the grand presents
lately made to Yale, the largest addition to its general
fund, the largest real increase to its available riches,
was the $5000 legacy given by the late Chief Justice
Thomas S. Williams, of Hartford and the class of '94.

Though most of the peculiar college words and
phrases employed in this book are explained wherever
they occur, the following vocabulary may be of interest
on its own account and useful for purposes of reference :
Alma i7tater, the college as related to its graduates.
AhimnuSy a graduate, though the word is more fre-
quently used in the plural, alumni. Annual, the ex-
amination held at the close of every year. Appointment,
position upon the faculty's honor-roll of scholarship.

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 43

These appointments are announced at the close of the
first junior and last senior terms. Average, the lowest
mark ("2") that will "pass" a man in his studies.
Banger, a heavy club-cane, mostly carried by Sopho-
mores. ""Banner,'^ the annual society list and college di-
rectory. Berkeley, the name of a scholarship. Biennial,
the examination formerly held at the end of sophomore
and senior years. Blind-house, a secret-society hall, so
called by the townies only. Blow-out, a supper, spread,
convivial entertainment, especially a society celebration.
Bones man, a member of the Skull and Bones senior so-
ciety. Bristed, the name of a scholarship. Bully, good,
excellent. Bum, a spree, society supper, or convivial
entertainment of any sort, innocent or otherwise. Used
also as a verb ; whence is derived bu7nmer, a fast young
man, a fellow who bums. Buzz, to interview and "sound*'
a man. Cantpaign, the annual strife between the fresh-
man societies for new members. Chapel, religious ser-
vices which must be attended in that building. Cheek,
brazen audacity. Used also as a verb. Chum, a room-
mate or particular friend. Sometimes called chum7ny.
Chum is used also as a verb. Church paper, an official
blank, certifying that the person signing it has attended
Sunday service in one of the city churches. Class, a
body of students who enter upon their studies the same
year, and pursue them together to the end. The first
year it is called t\\Q freshman, the second year the sopho-
more,i\\Q third Xh& junior, and the fourth the senior cI^lss.
Upper-class, and under-class are terms of various appli-
cation, according to the position of the person using
them. A Freshman is always an underclass man, and a
Senior is always an upper-class man. The Juniors and
Sophomores are to the former ttpper-class men also, but
to the latter, they as well as the Fresh are wider-class
men. In general, however, by upper-class the two higher

44 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

classes are referred to, and by under-class the two lower
ones. Class election^ an after-choice to a secret society by
one's own classmates, who themselves enjoyed the
greater honor of being chosen by the class above them.
Coalition, a political compact between two or more soci-
eties for controlling the elective honors of a class. Coal
yard, the college privy. So named because the two
structures used to be connected. Coc/i (abbreviated
from Cochleaiireatus ), a member of the committee who
awarded the Wooden Spoon. Cojmnons, the college
boarding house. Condition, requirement to make up
an unsatisfactory examination. Used also as a verb.
Cram, to prepare for examination on a subject, rather
than to really master it. Crowd, a common synonym
for clique, coterie, or set, especially with reference to so-
ciety connections. Cnrric (abbreviated from curriculuni),
the established course of studies. Cut, to absent one's
self from a college exercise. Dead, complete, perfect ;
as a dead rush, a dead flunk. DeForest, the gold rpedal
of that name. Dig, a close, mechanical student. Used
also as a .verb. Used also as an abbreviation for
dignity. Digger, a member of the Spade and Grave
senior society. Dog, style, splurge. To put on dog,
is to make a flashy display, to cut a swell. Drop, to
fall into a lower class. Ear, dignity, hauteur, self-impor-
tance. A man somewhat offended or indignant is said
to be on his ear, or eaty. Egress, the official name of
an exit from a college exercise. Electioneer, to argue
the claims of a society, for the purpose of gaining new
members. Entry, a hall or stairway in a college dormi-
tory. Excuse paper, an official blank upon which all
excuses for failure at college exercises are required to be
written. Faculty, the active college authorities. Fizzle^
partial failure on recitation. Fhmk, an entire failure.
Both these words are also used as verbs. Fraud, a

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 45

humbug, an imposition, a sell. Freshman (often ab-
breviated to Fresh), a collegian in his first year. Gig-
lamps and goggles, eye-glasses, Grad, abbreviation for
graduate. Not common. Grind, a hard and unpleasant
task, an imposition, a swindle. As a verb, to give close
application to a study, especially to a distasteful one.
Grip, a society's secret mode of clasping hands. Grub,
food, meals, board. A very common word, both as
noun and verb. Gum game, a trick, a swindle. Gym,
abbreviation for gymnasium. Hang out, to occupy a
room, to reside. Hash, is sometimes used in a sense
similar to grub, though as a noun only. Healthy and
heavy, are used as sarcastically complimentary epithets.
Hewgag, a what-d'ye-call-it, a thingumbob. Honorary
member, a person elected to a society after his own class
has ceased to control it. All society men, as soon as
their class withdraws from the active management of a
society, are also termed honorajy members of it. Hoop
it up, to hurry. Perhaps derived from the driver's ejac-
ulation, houp la I Hunky, good, excellent, bully. Joe,
the college privy, jfunior (sometimes abbreviated to
yun or June by the necessities of verse), a collegian in
his third year. Keys man, a member of the Scroll and
Key senior society. Lab (abbreviated from laboratory ),
a word formerly used to indicate a student in chemistry.
Lalligag, to fool about, get the better of, " come it over,"
a man. Lay, a trick of policy, a little game. Light out,
to hurry away, make one's self scarce, Lippus, a man
of defective vision. " Z//.," the " Yale Literary Mag-
azine.'^ Load, a practical joke, a sell. Lunkhead, a
stupid, slow-witted fellow. Make up, to recite an
omitted lesson. Medic, a medical student. Rarely
used. Memorabil (abbreviated from me7norabilia ), any
keepsake to remind one of college life, especially printed
matter of every sort, Muffin, an unskilful player at

46 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

base-ball. Neutral^ a person who belongs to no society,
especially to no junior society; though the qualifying
word to denote in what year he was a neutral is usually
prefixed when any year save the present is intended.
Nobby, stylish, fashionable, well-dressed. Applied to
young men only. Owl, to prolong an evening call until
a late hour is to oivl the person called upon. Pack, to
organize or to join with " a crowd," with a view of
securing some desired honor, especially a senior-so-
ciety election. The crowd thus made up is itself called
a pack. Peeler, a city policeman. Pickup, a street-
walker, of the less disreputable sort. Pill, a silly, dis-
agreeable fellow ; a prig ; a scrub. Recently the word
has been used as a verb, in the sense of dress, and to
//// tip signifies to put on one's good clothes, to fix up, to
rig out. Pledge, to bind a man to join a society, and
promise him an election to it. Plug, a silk hat, of the
stove-pipe or chimney-pot order. Also called beaver,
tile and 7'oof. Pony, a translation of a classic text. As
a verb, to make use of such translations in reading out a
lesson. Poppycock, a silly pretence, foolishness, nonsense.
Poster, a representation of a society's emblems, displayed
in a room to indicate the connections of its occupant.
Also, any sort of printed handbill. '•''Pot,''' abbreviation
of " Pot-Pourri,''' the annual society catalogue and col-
lege directory. Prex, the president. Prof, abbreviation
iox professor. Rag, to overcome and entirely use up an
opponent or rival. Reckless, superlatively fine, in the
very extreme of fashion. Red hot, excellent, perfect, mag-
nificent. Sometimes abbreviated to hot, and usually used
with some tinge of sarcasm. Roomer, a word used by
landladies to designate a lodger or occupant of a room
who takes his meals elsewhere. Roots, tricks. Used
only in the phrase, to "come the ;-<7^/j" over" a person,
that is, to get the better of him by some trick or deceit.

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY, 47

Rope in^ to join one's self to a set or party uninvited, to
attach any one to the same unceremoniously or without
his consent. Rum^ good, excellent, bully. Run, to
direct, conduct, manage. Also to chaff, make sport of.
Also to stand as a candidate for office. To run with sig-
nifies to keep the company of, to become identified with.
Rush, a perfect recitation. Also a pushing, scrambling
street-fight between two classes, or rather a trial of their
strength in shoving through and breaking up each
other's ranks. Used as a verb, chiefly in the former
sense. Russellite, a member of Gen. Russell's military
school. Rusticate, to suspend a man from college exer-
cises ; because during the period of his suspension he
is supposed to stay in the country, cramming in private.
Scieniif, a student in the Scientific School. Scrub, a
poorly dressed, badly appearing, socially disagreeable
man. Seed, is used with about the same meaning, though
more nearly equivalent to ////. Senior (sometimes»ab-
breviated to Sen or Sene by the necessities of verse), a
collegian in his fourth year. Shad-eater (or simply
shad), a member of the State Legislature. Shake up,
to make haste. To " shake up a song," or " a tune," is
to sing ; and the imperati\ie,'*'j//rt'/('(f // up f signifies, wide
awake, there ! bestir yourself ! Sheba?ig, rooms, place
of abode. Also a theatrical or other entertainment in
a public hall. Sheepskin, the college diplomaj or A.B.
degree. Shekels, money. Shenannigan, chaff, foolery,
nonsense ; especially when advanced to cover some
scheme or little game. Sick, bad, inferior, disgusting,
contemptible. Sing, an informal concert, a singing of
college songs. Sit on, to silence, thwart, crush, anni-
hilate. Skin, to use unfair means for gaining knowledge
in recitation or examination. Slathers, an abundance,
quantities, lots. Sleep over, to arise from bed too late
for a college exercise. Sling, to put on, exhibit, display.

48 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Smear ^ food, hash, grub ; especially a society spread or
supper. This word was introduced by '69, and has been
very popular in later classes. It is sometimes also
used as a verb. Snabby or snab, stylish, tasteful, good
looking (applied chiefly to young women, who thence
themselves come to be referred to as the snab). Also,
good, perfect, excellent. Sofl thing, an easy place, a
pleasant position, a sure chance. To have a soft thing
on, or the dead wood on, any object, is to hold the " in-
side track," the best opportunity for gaining it. S^ofty,
spoofiey, and spoops or spoopsey, are all used as synonyms
for a silly, insignificant fellow. Sophomore (often abbre-
viated to Soph), a collegian in his second year. Soitr on,
to become disgusted with, turn one's back upon, repu-
diate. Spoon Man, the recipient of the Wooden Spoon.
Sport the oak, to keep one's door locked against visitors.
An English term of recent introduction. Spread, an
informal supper or treat, especially if given to upper-
class men. Stand, rank in scholarship. Stick, a loutish
fellow, a pill. As a verb, the word signifies to .secure
the pledge of a man's money or services in support of
objects to which he really does not wish to give them.
Stofies man, a senior-society*neutral. Stoughton-bottle, a
thick-headed, blundering fellow ; a stick j a pill. Sub,
a sub-division at examination time. Siib-Freshtnan, a
prospective collegian during the last year of his prepar-
atory course. Supe, a toady, a boot-licker. Used also
as a verb. Siveep, a servant who takes care of the dor-
mitories. Swing out, to display any personal adorn-
ment, especially a society badge, for the first time. The-
ologue, a theological student. 27iin, transparent. A
sell or joke whose point is suspected or seen in advance
is said to be too thin. Townsend, the name of a high
literary prize. Towny, a resident of the city, especially
a young man who might be mistaken for a collegian.

HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY. 49

^Triennial, the triennial catalogue of graduates. Also
the triennial class-meeting. Also the triennial class
record. Tuie, abbreviation for iuior. Not common.
University, the picked boat-crew of six who row against
Harvard. Also the picked base-ball nine. Wharf rat,
a young waterside Arab. Wooden mafi, an impassive,
methodical, cold-blooded fellow ; a stick ; a Stoughton-
bottle. Wooden Spoon, the prize conferred at the end
of junior year upon " the most popular man in the class."
Wood up, to rap with the knuckles, in mock approba-
tion of a recitation-room joke. Woolsey, the name of
the first freshman scholarship. Worst, latest, newest.
A general sarcastic superlative, made popular by '71.
Anything, from a new hat to a society election or long
lesson, is called the worst yet, the very worst, or the
worst we've seen. Yalensian, a Yale man. Used also
as an adjective. This word, though much affected by
college writers and often seen in print, is never heard of
in conversation, and has not been employed in the
present work.

The following publications — comprising all the im-
portant works relating to the subject — have been of use
in the preparation of this book, and their perusal is
recommended to all those who are interested in the his-
tory and present condition of the college. New Haven
is the place of publication, when not otherwise specified.
President Clap's "Annals of Yale College"; i6mo,
pp. 124; printed by Hotchkiss & Mecom, 1766. Bald-
win's "Annals of Yale College"; 8vo, pp. 214; Hez-
ekiah Howe, 1831 : second edition, pp. 343 ; B. & W.
Noyes, 1838. " Sketches of Yale College," by a mem-
ber of that institution [E. P. Belden of '44] ; i6mo, pp.
192 ; New York: Saxton & Miles, 1843 ; "embellished
with more than thirty- engravings." " Reminiscences of
4

50 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Scenes and Characters in College," by a graduate of
'21 [Rev. John Mitchell]; i2mo, pp. 229; A. H.
Maltby, 1847 ; stereotyped by J. H. Benham. Professor
Kingsley's " Historical Sketch," 8vo, pp. 48 ; Boston :
Perkins, Marvin & Co., 1836 [reprinted from the Amer-
ican Quarterly Register\. President Woolsey's " Histor-
ical Discourse" ; 8vo, pp. 128 ; printed by B. L. Ham-
len, 1850. B. H. Hall's " College Words and Customs" ;
i2mo, pp. 508 ; Cambridge : John Bartlett, 1856. Avery
Allyn's "Ritual of Freemasonry"; i2mo, pp. 302;
Boston: John Marsh & Co., 183 1. Professor Porter's
"American Colleges and the American Public"; i2mo,
pp. 285 ; C. C. Chatfield & Co., 1870. Garretson's
" Carmina Yalensia" ; 8vo, pp. 88 ; New York: Taintor
Bros., 1867. Elliot's " Songs of Yale" ; i2mo, pp. 126 ;
C. C. Chatfield & Co., 1870. Waite's "Carmina Col-
legensia"; 8vo, pp. 254; Boston: O. Ditson & Co.,
1868. "Yale Literary Magazine," monthly, 1836-71.
"Yale Banner," annual, 1841-70. " College Courant,"
weekly, 1865-71. " New Englander," quarterly, 1843-
71. "American Journal of Science and Arts," semi-
annual, quarterly, bi-monthly, monthly, 18 18-71. '* Uni-
versity Quarterly," 1860-61.

Part First.
THE SOCIETY SYSTEM

CHAPTER I.

FRESHMAN S CJ C I i: T I E S .

Development of the Modern System — Kappa Sigma Epsilon —
Delta Kappa — Gamma Nu— Sigma Delta — Election of Active
and Honorary Members — Catalogues — The Outside Chapters
and Statistics of Membership — The Society System in Other
Colleges — Badge Pins and Mottoes — Halls and Mode of Renting
Them — Electioneering — Initiation — Suppers — Interference of
Upper-class Men — Farewell Ceremonies of the Sophomores —
Meetings and Exercises — " Peanut Bums" — Treatment of Intru-
ders— Officers and the Campaign Election — Coalitions — System
of Electioneering — Initiation Committees' Suppex" — Expenses of
Membership — Society Zeal and its Gradual Decline — Signifi-
cance of Prize Lists — Notable Members — Comparisons of the
Societies — Anomalous Position of Gamma Nu — Initiation Fa-
bles and their Origin— Theory of the Supper Business — Advice
to sub-Freshmen.

The secret-society system has come to be so impor-
tant a part of undergraduate life at Yale, that, for a just
comprehension of the latter, a full understanding of the
former is an essential prerequisite. The sub-Freshman
is pledged to his society months before he approaches
the college walls, and the graduate keeps up his senior-
year connections long after he has left those walls be-
hind him. The present system is a comparatively new

52 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

one, dating back its establishment but little more than
a generation, yet it is easy to see in it the natural out-
growth of the scheme which preceded it. This may
be said to have originated in 1753, with the establish-
ment of " Linonia," an open society, shared in by all
classes of undergraduates, and at present the oldest
institution of the kind existing in this or any other
American college. Fifteen years later, a secession from
Linonia resulted in the establishment of another similar
society called the "Brothers in Unity." In 1780, was
founded the Connecticut Alpha of " Phi Beta Kappa,"
a secret society, confining its membership to the senior
class. In 182 1, came "Chi Delta Theta," secret, in the
senior and junior classes. All of these societies, though
greatly changed as to their scope and object, are still
extant, and will be described at length hereafter. In
their original form they have been gradually superseded
by the modern system, which began in 1832 when a
strictly senior society called "Skull and Bones" was
established. In a few years later there were junior so-
cieties, then sophomore, and in 1840 a freshman society
ventured to appear ; so that at present there are two or
more secret societies in each of the four academical
classes. The " order of development" being thus traced
out, — from which it would seem likely that the societies
of each lower class were modeled to a certain extent
upon those in the class above, — the different societies
may be described in the order in which the undergrad-
uate becomes acquainted with them : it being premised
that those of the three lower classes resemble Phi Beta
Kappa in being " Greek-letter societies," that is, in
taking their names from the initial letters of a phrase
in Greek, which has been adopted as a secret motto or
watchword of the society. This at least is the theory,
though in practice it sometimes happens that a harmo-

TlfE SOCIETY SYSTliM, 53

lious combination of letters is first selected for the
lame, and the motto afterwards fitted to them.

" Kappa Sigma Epsilon," the oldest freshman society,
was founded in July, 1840, by a dozen members of the
class of '44, of whom Senator O. S. Ferry of Connec-
ticut is perhaps as well known as any. A like number
from the class of '49, among whom was Charles G.
Came of the Boston journal, established "Delta Kappa"
in November, 1845 ; while "Gamma Nu," a non-secret
society, was started about ten years later by nine mem-
bers of the class of '59, including Prof. A. W. Wright
of Williams College and Rev. J. H.Twichell of Hartford.
There was also a fourth society, called " Sigma Delta,"
which died in i860 at the age of eleven. The first of
these is always spoken of as " Sigma Eps" ; the second
as " Delta Kap" or less often " D K" ; the third is
usually named in full, except when contemptuously re-
ferred to as ^' Gammy." At the outset, Sigma Eps,
having the field to itself, was a select society, restricting
its membership to about twenty, picked during the first
term from each successive freshman class. Delta Kap
also partly maintained this character for a year or two,
but the rivalry between the two societies for the posses-
sion of the " best men" soon became so great as virtu-
ally to do away with the plan of individual election, and
the practice, now in vogue, was introduced, whereby
each society endeavors to gain the largest number of
members, — irrespective of merit or want of it on their
part, — and the one which succeeds is said to " win the
campaign" of the year. The victory always lies between
Sigma Eps and Delta Kap, which in a class, say, of one
hundred and fifty Freshmen, usually secure about sixty
each, while Gamma Nu has to be content with half that
number. Delta Kap has now won five out of six suc-
cessive campaigns, and its last two victories have been

54 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

quite decisive ones. In the class of '73 Delta Kap had
88 members, Sigma Eps 36, and Gamma Nu 30 ; and
in the class of '74 the corresponding figm'es were 72,
49 and 29. Though the form of a unanimous election
is gone through with, and a single negative vote is suffi-
cient to reject, no Freshman ever is rejected by these
societies, and every Freshman is expected to join one of
them. Thus it happens that a " neutral" or non-society
Freshman is of late years very rarely heard of. Men
who enter college after freshman year are usually secured
as honorary members of these societies, and figure in
the catalogues and prize lists the same as regular active
members. Occasionally, when such a late-entered upper-
class man has distinguished himself in some way, two
or more societies make efforts to obtain him ; but as a
rule there is little rivalry in this respect. It sometimes
happens, on the other hand, though not often, that an
upper-class man who attempts to gain admission to
these societies is rejected. It has been customary, fur-
thermore, to elect as honorary members some of those
who were freshman neutrals in the early years when
the societies were select, and who afterwards in col-
lege or elsewhere distinguished themselves. Generally,
though not always, their consent was obtained before-
hand, but they were seldom initiated, as are the hon-
orary members from the upper classes in college. Nev-
ertheless their names usually appear undistinguished
from the others in the catalogues, and it hence becomes
difficult to discover therefrom the number of regular
active members of these societies in all the earlier
classes. A very few honorary members are also elected
who are indicated as such in the catalogues, because of
their never having been connected either with any class
represented in the society, or even with the college itself.
Such members are ranked with the class which elected
them.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 55

These catalogues are published every five or six
years ; the last one of Sigma Eps being put forth in
the summer of 1865 by the class of '68. This is an
octavo pamphlet of sixty-four pages, embellished on the
outside with the society emblem, and contains the full
names and residences of the members, arranged in
classes, with an alphabetical index at the end. A " ref-
erence table" at the beginning explains the meaning of
the Greek-letter symbols attached to many of the names.
These signify the various college " prizes," " honors,"
and "offices," gained by particular members. Sigma
Eps at Yale, calling itself the " Kappa" chapter, estab-
tablished a branch " Alpha" chapter at Amherst, which
ran through the four classes from '53 to '57, and died
with a total membership of thirty-two. The " Delta"
chapter at the Troy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
was started with a dozen men in 1864, and lasted a little
more than a year. The " Sigma" chapter, founded at
Dartmouth in the class of '57, and numbering in its first
ten years some two hundred members, still exists in a
flourishing condition. According to the catalogue al-
luded to, the total membership of the society at Yale in
twenty-five classes was loii, and of all the chapters
combined at that date, 1260. Delta Kap has had six
branches outside of Yale, two of which survive.
Calling itself the "Alpha" chapter, it named the others,
in the order of their establishment, from the successive
letters of the Greek alphabet. According to the last
catalogue, published at Yale in 1866 by the class of
'69, the "Gamma" chapter of Amherst, begun in the
class of '52, showed a membership of 403, the "Zeta"
chapter of Dartmouth, begun in the class of '64, a mem-
bership of 151, which with Yale's 997 members in
twenty-one classes, gave a total of 1553, or about two
hundred more than Sigma Eps at that time,- -allowance

56 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

being made for a hundred increase in the latter's figures
of the year before. The " Eta" chapter was established
at Center College, Danville, Ky., in 1867. The war
broke up three southern chapters, and destroyed all
record of their membership. These were : the '' Beta,"
started at the North Carolina University, in 1850;
the "Delta" at the Virginia University, in 185 1; and
the "Epsilon" at the Mississippi University, in 1853.
The Gamma chapter of Amherst died in the fall of 1870,
the faculty forbidding the class of '74 to be initiated.
Gamma Nu has never published any catalogue, but
from the lists printed in the Yale Banner., its first ten
classes appear to number 296 members in all, 40 being
the largest number belonging to any single class (that
of 'd^). A society of the same name and character
was established at Brown University eight or ten years
ago, and in 1864 some attempt was made to bring about
a formal connection between the two, but nothing re-
sulted and the societies are quite independent of each
other. In August, 1854, the Sigma Delta men of '57
issued a catalogue of their society, comprising twenty-
two pages and a steel-plate frontispiece of the society
badge, with which was connected the motto, Ingenium
labor e perfect U7n. In college esteem the society occupied
a position not unlike that since held by Gamma Nu.
After its disruption many of its upper-class members
were elected into the other two freshman societies.
Sigma Delta had chapters at New York University and
Amherst, the latter of which died but two years ago. The
very general failure of these branch chapters is chiefly
due to the different society systems which prevail at .
most of the other colleges. There, " the junior socie-
ties," as Yale men call them, are composed of members
of all the four classes, and a man's active connection
with his society continues till the day he graduates.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 57

Hence, the most desirable Freshmen being " picked "
by " the junior societies" very early in the course, have
little to gain in joining a distinctively freshman society
also, and, if they do join it, their interest in the more
worthy organization naturally tends to the disadvantage
of the other. At Dartmouth, however, as **' the junior
societies" elect no members before sophomore year,
Sigma Eps and Delta Kap have the freshman field all
to themselves, and are able to maintain a creditable
existence. The tie which binds the different chapters
together is a very slight one, as the active membership
lasts only a year, — a year in which individual visits be-
tween different colleges are least likely to happen, — and
a man's zeal in the cause is seldom prolonged beyond
this. The occasional interchange of compliments by
the corresponding secretaries, the transaction of a little
common business, the entertainment of a very rare vis-
itor, these comprise the sum of the relations between
the chapters.

The badge pins worn by all the members constitute
one of the most distinctive features of these societies.
That of Sigma Eps somewhat resembles a Greek cross,
except that there are five bars instead of four, between
each of which comes the point of a star, the center con-
sisting of a shield of black enamel, bearing the letters
'' K 2: E " and " Yale." This last gives place to
"Dart" for the Dartmouth chapter, and to correspond-
ing changes for other colleges. Aside from the black
shield, there is no relief to the gold surface of the rest
of the pin, which, as to size, is perhaps an inch in diam-
eter. A fasces, a caduceus, an anchor, a torch, and an
olive-branch are the emblems engraved upon the five
projecting bars. The original badge of this society, in
use for ten years or more, was a golden anchor, twined
about by the two serpents and surmounted by the winged

5^ FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

hat of Mercury. The motto, Sape agendo bene agere discere,
is generally found in connection with Sigma Eps cuts
and posters. The Delta Kap pin is a crescent, three-
quarters of an inch in diameter, of black enamel edged
with roughened gold, having ' in its broadest part a
white shield, whereon lie a crossed dagger and key, a
star in either horn, and below them the symbols " z/ "
and "A^," This is considered the handsomest badge at
Yale. It was formerly of plain gold, with three small
crescents engraved upon the shield, in place of the dag-
ger and key. Semper crescens, is the open motto of this
society. The badge of Gamma Nu, in size a trifle
smaller than the above, consists of a five-pointed star
bearing the symbols " F AV surrounded by a circular
band, with a wreath ornament upon the lower part, and
" Yale " inscribed upon a scroll above ; the body of the
pin being gold, the inscriptions and scroll work of black
enamel. Its original badge, in use up to 1862, was in
the shape of a book, upon the cover of which figured
an open hand, with the letters "i""' "A^" at the sides,
"^jjAoj^" above, and "Yale" below. The motto of the
society is /Jijlmg xa« ddslcpixcSg dOlovfisv, and its name in
full is Fv^vaaiov Noov. The last badge of Sigma Delta
was diamond shaped, and represented a book labeled
" Yale," surmounted by a coronet. An upright oval,
wherein a star cast its rays upon an enwreathed "^z/,"
was the pattern previously employed. These badges
are worn constantly, from the time a member is initiated
until the society is given over to the succeeding class.
The usual position is the left side of the vest, at the
collar or near the watch-chain, though the pin is some-
times attached to the neck-tie or shirt-bosom, and once
in a while a Freshman is seen displaying his badge up-
on the outer collar of his coat, — a practice not at all
uncommon at other colleges. A small gold letter in-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 59

dicative of the chapter, — "A!" for Sigma Eps, "^" for
Delta Kap, — connected to the main badge by a chain,
is often to be noticed upon a Freshman's waistcoat.
Their note-paper and envelopes are also embellished
with the society insignia, in gold or colors ; and the
same in the form of elaborate steel-plate or lithographic
"posters," often handsomely framed, are displayed upon
the walls of their rooms — where they are apt to hang
undisturbed until graduation day itself.

The halls of the lower-class college societies are in
the upper stories of buildings in different parts of the

Ptown, rented of their owners for the purpose, at an
annual cost of from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred and fifty dollars. A graduate member or
other responsible person is persuaded to take out a
two or three years' lease of a hall for a society, and so
long as he is responsible the society is generally hon-
orable enough to pay the rents promptly, and give him no
trouble in the matter. By the time the lease has expired
the society has become pretty well established in its
hall, cannot easily be ejected without actual violence,
which the owner or agent does not like to evoke, for
fear of incurring ill will, and often keeps possession of its
hall for many years without lease or written agreement of
any kind with its owner. It usually pays its rent with
tolerable regularity, and in cases when it does get two
or three quarters behind hand, a little judicious threat-
ening and a few hints at ejectment are apt to bring
about an early settlement ; so that real-estate holders
seldom lose money in these transactions. Yet it is
worthy of notice that " strict business men" thus entrust
to irresponsible "societies" — endowed with no legal
existence as such, composed of careless college boys,
who are not individually liable for society debts — con-
siderable sums of money-, well knowing that the only

6o FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

security for its payment lies in so intangible a thing as
traditional society integrity. The three freshman halls
are situated on Chapel street, the main thoroughfare of
the city ; that of Sigma Eps being in Collins Building,
a short distance below State street, and distant half a
mile from the colleges ; that of Delta Kap being at No.
334, near Church street, half as far away; that of
Gamma Nu being in Lyon Building, midway between
the other two. Sigma Eps for many years occupied a
hall in Brewster Building, southeast corner of State and
Chapel streets, and close beside the railway station, and
moved into its present abode in the fall of 1&70 ; Delta
Kap spent eighteen years in Austin Building, opposite
its present quarters, which it took possession of in 1864 ;
and Gamma Nu, after subsisting in the college recitation
rooms and elsewhere, became established where it now
is in 1863. Its hall is commodious and well furnished,
but, though more attractive than the old hall of Sigma
P^ps, is inferior in size and elegance to the halls now
possessed by the other two societies. Each of these
contains a stage for theatrical purposes, though Delta
Kap is the only freshman hall whose entrance is guarded
with double doors of iron.

When "the candidate for admission to the freshman
class in Yale College " draws near to New Haven, for
the purpose of attending the dread entrance examina-
tion, he is usually accosted with the utmost politeness
by a jaunty young gentleman, resplendent with mystic
insignia, who, after some introductory commonplaces,
" presumes he may be intending to enter Yale .'"' " Yes."
" Perhaps he has heard of some remarkable societies
existing in that neighborhood ?" If he has, and says
at once that he's " pledged " to this or that societ}', our
affable friend confjratulates him on the wisdom of his

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 6i

choice, if it be his society, or quickly turns the subject
if it happens to be its opponent, and in either case soon
bids him good day. But if he wants information on the
subject, the jaunty young gentleman is most happy to
supply it. " He chances to have in his pocket a prize
list, recently published by the college authorities, which
shows exactly how the thing now stands." This list of
course places one society far ahead of the rest in the
matter of " honors," and other desirable things ; which
society our friend at length confesses he had the honor
of belonging to last year, and thinks he has still enough
influence there to secure the unanimous election of his
new acquaintance, if he decides to work for it. " Will
he pledge to accept the election, in case he is so lucky
as to get it for him ?" Perhaps the sub-Freshman says
Yes, forthwith. More likely, he " wants to think about
it," and would rather " wait till he gets to the city, and
looks around for himself, a little." ' But no, that would
be useless. His time will then be taken up with other
things. Besides, this list contains all the facts. Hasn't
President Woolsey authorized it? Presume his word
isn't doubted ? Oh, dear, no ! Well, the whole ground
is gone over, and some sort of a pledge is at last ex-
acted. " If you won't pledge to Sigma Eps, you'll at
least promise not to go to Gamma Nu ?" Yes, sub-
Fresh will promise that. " And you won't pledge to
Delta Kap till you talk with me again ?" " No." And
so they part. This is supposed to happen before the
train or boat reaches the station or landing. By that
time our Sigma Eps partisan — for as such we now rec-
ognize him — is in the midst of his argument with
another "candidate." They are just preparing to alight,
when other Sigma Eps men surround them. At a sign
from the first, one takes his valise, another his umbrella,
a third his bundle. " This way if you please, Mr. ."

62 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

And before the sub-Fresh has time to protest, he is roll-
ing along in a hack, and his ne^ found friends are en-
quiring the number of his boarding house, or the name
of the hotel he wishes to go to ? Very likely they treat
him to dinner or supper, but at any rate they are very
attentive to his wants and do not leave him until he is
" pledged." Sometimes the transfer to the hack is not
so easily accomplished, for the runners of another so-
ciety may scent the prey, rush for it, and bear it off in
triumph. There are plenty of representatives from all
three societies hanging about the railroad station on
the arrival of the important trains, and rarely does a
sub-Freshman run the gauntlet of their eyes without de-
tection. They jump upon the platforms of the moving
cars, they fight the brakemen, they incommode the
travelers, they defy the policemen, — but they will offer
the advantages of " the best freshman society" to every
individual "candidate." And they do. "Pledged" is
the magic word, and the only one, that secures the new
comer an immunity from their attentions. Amusing
mistakes often happen in these contests. A quiet Sen-
ior, or resident graduate, mistaken by a society runner
for a sub-Freshman, may "play off verdant," allow
himself to be electioneered, accept a free ride to the
hotel, and possibly a supper, and at last, carelessly dis-
playing a senior-society pin upon his shirt-front, inform
his terror stricken entertainers that he "belonged to
Delta Kap about four years ago," and wish them a very
good evening.

Within a week from the commencement of the term,
about every Freshman has been pledged, and prepara-
tions are being made for the "initiation." The term
opens on Thursday, and the traditional time of initiation
is Friday night of the following week. As the darkness
approaches, the discordant blasts of tin horns and the

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. ^Z

rattle of bangers upon the pavement admonish the
expectant Freshmen that the hour of their trial is rapidly
drawing near. Each one has received during the day a
black-edged envelope, covering a black-edged card or
sheet of paper, bearing the society badge and this fear-
ful summons : " Freshman [or " Mr."] So and So : You
will be waited upon at your room this evening, and be
presented for initiation into the dark and awful mys-
teries of the — — fraternity. Per order." The half of
a card of fantastic design and peculiarly notched edge
is also enclosed, and the Freshman is instructed to sur-
render himself only to the personage who presents him
with the other half of that particular card, which will
be identified by the " matching" of the edges, — no two
cards of the many given out having been notched ex-
actly alike. Sometime between the hours of seven and
ten our Freshman is called for, identifies the card pre-
sented to him, and gives himself up to his conductor,
who may very likely have a companion, wearing a mask,
like himself, or otherwise disguised. Perhaps they visit
some eating house where the Freshman treats to an
oyster supper ; or perhaps he promises to give the
supper on the following evening ; or perhaps he doesn't
care to treat at all. Possibly he has been blindfolded
from the time he left his room, and has had a tin horn
blown close to his ear occasionally, on the way, though
this is unusual. But at length they draw near some
public building, from within which proceed sounds as
of pandemonium itself. The Freshman is blindfolded
for a minute or two, is shoved forward, hears a door
open" and close behind him with a bang, and opens his
eyes to find himself in pitch darkness. However, he
at once perceives that he is not alone, but in the midst
of other Freshmen, like him " waiting their turn." The
noise meanwhile seems louder and louder, and when an

64 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

inner door opens and a name is called, it becomes al-
most deafening. Soon our Fresh is wanted. A red
devil in the passage way, assisted by a living skeleton,
redolent of phosphorus, quickly blindfolds him, and he
is hurried upward. When he has reached an elevation
apparently of several hundred feet, a new element in
the continual din assures him that he is at last in the
inquisitorial hall. But just as he begins a reply to the
last nonsensical question put by an attendant fiend,
some one jostles against him, and down, down, down
he falls until he strikes — a blanket, held in readiness
for him. Then up he flies into the air again, amid ad-
miring shrieks of " Go it, Freshie !" " Well done. Sub !"
^'' Shake \\\vci up!" until a new candidate demands the
attention of the tossers. Then he is officiously told to
rest himself in a chair, the seat of which lets him into
a pail of water, beneath, though a large sponge probably
saves him from an actual wetting ; his head and hands
are thrust through a pillory, and he is reviled in that
awkward position ; he is rolled in an exaggerated squir-
rel wheel ; a noose is thrown around his neck, and he
is dragged beneath the guillotine, when the bandage is
pulled from his eyes, and he glares upon the glittering
knife of block-tin, which falls within a foot of his throat,
and cannot possibly go further. Being thus executed,
he is thrust into a coffin, which is hammered upon with
such energy that he is at length recalled to life, pulled
out again, and made to wear his coat with the inside
outwards. This is the sign that his initiation is over,
and he can now stand by and enjoy the fun. Ranging
himself with the turn-coated classmates whom he finds
have preceded him, he looks upon a motley throng of
struggling Sophomores, arrayed in every variety of hid-
eous and fantastic disguise, shouting, screaming, horn-
blowing, and putting the Freshmen through the various

a

I

THE SOCIE TV S VSTEM. 65

stages of the ceremony, wliich in his own case has just
been completed, while Juniors and Seniors stand by as
passive spectators of the sport. A lithographic sketch
by W. H. Davenport, for a time in the class of '60, gives
a very correct idea of this grotesque initiation scene.

Formerly, Sigma Eps and Delta Kap held the initi-
ation in common, hiring for the purpose a public hall,

nd admitting to the shov/ a select number of visitors,
not connected with the societies or with college. The
doors were securely guarded by policemen, and no one
without society badge or admission ticket could pass
the entrance. These tickets were embellished on the

ne side with some terrific representation of Freshmen
seething in fiend-tended cauldrons, or being rended in
pieces by animate skeletons, or undergoing some similar
torture ; while the other side bore the badges of the
two societies, inter-locked or else connected with the
clasped hands, and the names of the sophomore com-
mittee men. Though no longer of any special utility,
these cards are still issued, separately, by the societies,
and bear but a single badge and committee, though the
same cut is employed by both. This cut afterwards
figures in the Fot Pourri, in connection with the names
of both committees. At these quasi-public initiations,
more elaborate processes could be gone through with
than those already described. The Freshmen could
be raised to any required hight, in a coffin-shaped box,
the bottom of which dropping out would allow him to
tumble into the awaiting blanket ; or a blank charge
from two or three muskets could be fired over his head
at the instant when he fell through a trap door into the
inevitable blanket prepared below ; or the same trap
could be made to do service as a grave into which his
encoffined form might be lowered ; or he could be given
a " cradle ride," in a vehicle, much like a reversed hen-

66 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

coop mounted on wheels, which might be dragged
swiftly across the stage over the rough clumps of wood
carefully placed in its way : — things which have not been
possible since 1865, when the college authorities decreed
that each society must initiate in its own hall, in the
presence of no one but its own members.

Each Sophomore has a particular Freshman assigned
to him for initiation, and usually selects some former
friend or acquaintance, or a man whom he himself
pledged, or one whom he thinks likely to " treat" liber-
ally, or in lack of these is content with any Freshman
whatever. As the Freshmen usually outnumber the
Sophomores, a few of the former are assigned to Juniors,
members of last year's initiation committee perhaps,
who are very glad to seize the opportunity thus offered
for a possible " supper." But many of the upper class
men — for Seniors as well as Juniors engage in the dis-
graceful business — who have no Freshmen assigned to
them, seize if they can upon those allotted to others,
and get from them a supper. Perhaps two or three
Freshmen are brought together in a college room, and
put through a mock initiation : made to box or fence
with one another, dance blindfolded on a table, sing,
answer nonsensical questions, pass a mock examination
in their lessons before a pretended professor, and so on \
but the supper is the main thing, after all. There are
always many Freshmen absent from the evening recita-
tion of initiation night — most of whom are keeping close
to their own rooms by order of their sophomore owners,
or are lying secreted in the rooms of the upper-class
men who have " stolen" them, — and there is always a
scuffle on the dismissal of that recitation, in which some
Freshmen are "gobbled up" and spirited away. Late
in the evening the upper-class men present themselves
at the initiation halls with their charges, and attempt to

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 67

" get through" the latter with a light initiation or none
at all. This attempt the Sophomores resist, and a
fierce commotion ensues. The Freshman is dragged
about by the contending parties, and perhaps has his
clothes torn in the struggle. If the Sophs finally get
him, he is put through, the whole extent of the ceremony ;
otherwise, his friends get his coat turned, and that is
the end of it. It is not always in return for a treat
simply that this is done. An upper-class man or even
a Sophomore, may have a brother or friend whom he
wishes to get through, or the mere excitement of the
thing and a pure love of mischief may furnish the only
motives for the action. Spite of every precaution
against it, it is not very difficult in the confusion and
hubbub to slide a Freshman through unnoticed, and it
is every year accomplished in many cases. But when
" detected in the act," the guardians of the Freshman
are usually obliged to surrender him to his "rightful
owners." In 1866, on account of a rumor that the fac-
ility would attempt to abolish the initiation entirely.
Delta Kap had a secret one, the night before the usual
time, in which none but the Sophomores participated.
Since then both societies, by varying the nights of the
ceremony and conducting it in comparative quiet, have
endeavored to keep it from the knowledge of upper-class
men and the faculty, but without a very marked success.
The institution has plainly seen its best — or its worst —
days, yet will doubtless continue to exist for some time
to come ; for such things die hard in college.

The ceremony concluded, the newly initiated are
pledged to observe the secrets of their society, ordered
to assemble at the hall early on the following evening,
and dismissed, — though not until several have been
called upon to "make speeches," which are greeted
with uproarious mock-applause, and sarcastic cries of

68 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

" Well done, Freshie !" " Good for you !" and so on.
Next day the Freshmen pay their initiation fees, which
vary from five dollars to twice that, in different societies
and different years ; swing out their badges, most of
which are lent them by the Sophomores until their own
can be engraved upon the back with their names and
that of their class ; and at the appointed hour approach
their society hall, which they find entirely transformed
in appearance since the previous night. The Sopho-
mores are now stretched out upon the carpeted floor, in
the center of the hall, smoking, laughing, and singing,
while the Freshmen occupy the seats about them. The
president orders the reading of the constitution, whereto
the new members affix their names, A farewell poem
and oration are pronounced, or possibly a play is acted.
Then a new president is elected by the Freshmen, a few
parting words of explanation and advice are offered by
the retiring sophomore president, hearty cheers are
given for him, for the society, and for the new members
' (which the latter feebly reciprocate — not having yet^
learned to cheer effectively), and the Sophomores, strik-
ing up a farewell song, for the last time march forth in
a body from the hall. The final chant of Delta Kap
consists in an indefinite repetition of the words : " Oh
Delta Kappa Kappa Kap, Oh Delta KappaJKappa,"
to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Reaching the street
in front of their hall, the ex-members combine in giving
a tremendous " three-times-three" cheer for their'society,
and disband forever. Previous to the exercises of the
second night, a few who had not answered to their
names at the roll-call of the night before are sometimes
shaken a little in the blanket, as are also, though*more
rarely, the few who join the society after their own class
controls it. The initiation of honorary members is
only a formal ceremony. In the days of joint-initiation.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 69

the members of each society, at its close, marched off
with their Freshmen to their respective halls, and there,
as now, pledged them to secrecy, and dismissed them
until the following night. The ceremony which takes
place at Gamma Nu on initiation night corresponds to
that of the second night in the other societies, though
the members are formally summoned and escorted to
the hall by Sophomores. There are no treats or sup-
pers in connection with this society.

The Freshmen, left to themselves, elect their remain-
ing officers, — a half dozen or more in number, — make
arrangements for their next society meeting, and ad-
journ,— having first engaged the janitor, recommended
them by their predecessors, who keeps the hall in order,
and locks its doors. A duplicate set of keys, however,
is kept in possession of the president. The meetings of
the societies are held every Saturday evening, opening
about eight o'clock and lasting two or three hours.
The exercises are of a literary character and consist of
debates, declamations, and orations, the reading of es-
says and selected passages and the society "papers,"
which are made up of miscellaneous writings prepared
by regularly elected editors. The paper of Sigma Eps
is called the Star^ that of Delta Kap the Crescent. A
critique upon the proceedings of that or the previous
meeting is generally the last thing offered. The ap-
pointments for the various duties are announced by the
president one, two or three weeks in advance, and the
order of exercises of the following week is read at the
close of each meeting. Full programmes of the exer-
cises and appointments of each evening, written out by
the secretary upon blank forms printed for the purpose,
are posted about the halls. Fines are exacted for fail-
ure to fulfil appointments, or for absence at roll-call,
which is made both at the opening and the close of the

70 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

meeting ; and a neglect to pay fines or taxes may de-
prive a member of the right of suffrage. Once or twice
in a year a " prize debate" is instituted, before old soci-
ety men — members of the faculty if possible — as judges.
Printed programmes are provided, and neither these
nor the names of the prize takers are kept secret from
the outside world. These semi-public debates were
started by the Delta Kap men of '70, though less exten-
sive prize trials had been known of in previous years
in both societies. There is considerable singing of so-
ciety songs at the meetings, with accompaniment on the
piano forte, — one of which instruments is owned or
rented by every college society, — and nearly every class
feels bound to add a song or two to the collection, if
not to print a new edition of the song book. Delta
Kap no longer pretends to keep its song book secret,
and with Sigma Eps the concealment is only nominal,
but as the Freshmen disband at a comparatively early
hour, they rarely sing their songs upon the street. A
group of upper-class men may sometimes strike up a
freshman-society song, though not usually in the day
time.

For the first few weeks succeeding initiation, a good
number of Sophomores drop in at the meetings, " to
see how the Freshies are getting along," but after that
only a few upper-class men will be found there, except
there be some special attraction, as a contested election
of ofBcers, or a play, or a " peanut-bum." When the
society, in the persons of its active or honorary mem-
bers, has come off with honors in some college contest
(or without them — it makes little difference), the event
is celebrated in this wise at the next succeeding meet-
ing : After the close of the literary exercises, a sack
containing one or two bushels of peanuts is emptied
upon the floor, and an indiscriminate scramble is made

THE SOCIE TV SYSTEM. 7 1

for them by the upper-class guests and their freshman
entertainers. Then cigars are distributed, and perhaps
in extraordinary cases fruit also, while lemonade may
supersede the customary ice water — for stronger bever-
ages are unknown in a freshman society. Smoking is
also forbidden during the exercises, and card-playing at
any time is a thing unheard of. Gamma Nu holds once
a term what is called a "jubilee," on which occasions
upper-class men and other honorary members address
the society. These and all its literary exercises are
open to all in college who choose to attend them, though
the business of the society is transacted in the presence
of none but members. In rare cases a Senior or even
a Junior wAW invite to his freshman hall a classmate who
belonged to a rival society. This causes much indigna-
tion among the Freshmen, and when they discover any
such visitor, he is apt to be expelled without much cere-
mony. Even upper-class men regard the practice as
rather dishonorable. It happens on initiation nights
oftener than at other times, when, on account of the dis-
guises and the confusion, an interloper is more likely to
escape detection ; though if he is detected then, his
chances for an easy escape are proportionately lessened.
It might be a serious matter for anyone not a college
man to be caught trespassing in a freshman-society hall.
A few years ago a person, believed to be a reporter for
a city paper, was found at the Sigma Eps initiation, and
so thoroughly *' put through" that he will not be likely
to repeat his visit. It is possible that the public is in-
debted to this gentleman for many of the fabulous ac-
counts of college doings, which have been so widely
circulated by the newspapers.

The society officers are elected twice a term. The
office of president is accounted a high honor, especially
that of final or " campaign" president of each class,

74 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the members of all schools of any importance are
" pledged " months before they approach New Haven,
and it is only the ones fitted under private tutors or in
distant parts of the country, who have to be met and
argued with in the manner already described, — though
these doubtless form in the aggregate a majority of the
whole number. As the time of the entrance examin-
ation approaches, not only do the freshman-society run-
ners infest the trains and the New Haven depot, as
already stated, but they are , also regularly stationed at
important railway centers, as New York, Springfield
and New London, and there lie in wait for the un-
pledged "candidates." The expenses of a campaign
conducted in this manner are of course considerable,
and are borne for the most part by the society, though
not unfrequently the campaign president or even mem-
bers of the initiation committee individually pay out
considerable sums of money for "the cause." Shortly
after initiation night, the two committees join in giving
an elaborate supper, to which are invited the committees
of the year before, and perhaps also those in the senior
class — what there are left of them. Ornamented bills-
of-fare bearing the insignia of the two societies and the
names of those partaking of the feast, are sometimes
provided. For this supper sometimes the society pays,
sometimes the individual committee men ; and some-
times the latter agree in consideration of the supper to
present no bills for electioneering expenses incurred in
the society's behalf. There is a dispute as to the the-
ory of the thing, but in practice it amounts to this, that
if any money is left in the treasury after the regular
debts of the society have been paid, the committee
are pretty certain to have it, for their supper ; otherwise
their claim amounts to little. The last supper was
given by the committees of '71. Those of '72 set a

^

THE SO CIE TV S VS TEA/. 7 5

better precedent, and as those of '73 followed it, per-
haps the custom will not be again revived.

Each class gives the society free from debt to its suc-
cessor, and generally leaves behind some substantial
token of remembrance in the form of an improvement
to the hall or other addition to the society property.
A large amount of money, even, was left in the Delta
Kap treasury by the Sophs of '72. Aside from the fines,
which avail but little, taxes, to the amount of ten or fif-
teen dollars in all, are levied upon the members, at
various times during the year, to meet the current
expenses ; and the initiation fees derived from the suc-
ceeding class are expended in advance for the same pur-
pose. Directly and indirectly, a man's freshman society
will cost him on the average from thirty-five to forty
dollars. In the case of Gamma Nu, where there are no
outside and unnecessary expenses, these figures may be
somewhat reduced, but from the fewness of its members
the share of each in its regular expenses must be pro-
portionately greater than in the other societies. When
Freshmen find no traces of their initiation fees in the
society treasury, they are often a little indignant, imag-
ine themselves the victims of " another swindle," and
put ready confidence in current rumors that all their
money is expended upon a supper for the initiation com-
mittee or for the society in general. As already shown,
however, the greater part of the money is invested for
the permanent benefit of the society, for which their pre-
decessors of course claim the credit.

At fijst the Freshman cares a good deal for his society.
He is punctual at the meetings, fulfills his appointments,
pays his fines and taxes promptly, and above all is very
zealous about keeping its "secrets." He scorns and
detests those upper-class men who talk over his societ}^
affairs so freely with outsiders, and vows to himself that

76 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

he will never be guilty of such baseness in future years.
Gradually his interest lessens. He gets a pledge to a
junior society — or tries to — and begins to "wonder how
the sophomore-society elections are coming out." He
grows inclined to think his taxes oppressive, and to vote
that the society expenditures be hereafter met by future
initiation fees. If he belongs to a faction far in the
minority, perhaps he absents himself from most of the
meetings, and gives the majority leave "to run their own
society." The third term comes, with its many special
excitements, and the regular routine is sadly broken up.
Delta Kap for the first time nails down its foot-lights
and brings out a play or two. The campaign elections
are decided, and the fight over the unpledged sub-Fresh-
men begins in earnest. The new year opens, and the
Sophomore — who has probably experienced a sea change
for the worse in his notions of morality — initiates his
Freshman, and "gets a supper" from him if he can. He
still takes a little interest in his old society, but doesn't
scruple to relate outside anything notable which he sees
occurring there. By the time he becomes a Junior or
Senior, he hardly thinks of his society at all, save when
he tries to "get a supper" of a PYeshman in its name,
or is invited to a play or "peanut bum." A dozen years
after graduation, he would hesitate before he could tell
you the* name of it. A graduate rarely enters the society
unless specially invited, or sent by the faculty as its rep-
resentative. It is esteemed dishonorable for an upper-
class man to electioneer or pledge for a freshman society,
and such pledges count for little in the college code.
He may say to a friend or relative : " I account my soci-
ety the best one, and advise you to go there," but noth-
ing more. So, likewise, public sentiment condemns an
upper-class man who allows freshman-society consider-
ations to effect his choice of candidates for ofilce, or to
prejudice in any way his action or opinion.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM, 77

The prize lists issued by each society as electioneering
arguments do not really conflict with one another, though
each makes its own society appear ahead in the matter
of honors, and, taken by itself, conclusively proves it to
be in those respects "the best." The inference drawn
by Freshmen from the apparently contradictory state-
ments, that ail the figures are unreliable, is a mistaken
one in fact, though practically about correct, since the
figures as arranged are the means of as much deception
as if really in themselves untrue. Taking the three
lists of 1866, as fairly representing how the "art of put-
ting things" is usually practised by these societies, we
find that Sigma Eps ignores Gamma Nu altogether, and
compares itself "with its rival Delta Kap" in respect to
those classes of honors which have_, during the last few
years, turned the scale in its own favor. Delta Kap, on
the other hand, reprints the summaries of the two cata-
logues, and thus makes out its total membership and
number of honors to be ahead of its rival. It shows
how that it has had more of the Cochleaureati and the
senior-society men of the past few years than all the
other societies combined, and has "received eight out of
fourteen Wooden Spoons." It also exhibits itself ahead
in the matter of " Editors of the Yale Z//.," " class
orators and poets," " DeForest-medal men" and " Com-
modores of the Navy," — taken for a long series of years.
An examination of opposing lists may show that of late
years it has been behind in these respects. The Gamma
Nu list, calling itself, with a certain amount of truth,
"the only complete and authentic record published,"
does not display its badge, as the other lists do, or other-
wise indicate its origin. Like Sigma Eps, it confines
most of its statistics to the four classes in college, and,
unlike it, compares the honors taken by all three socie-
ties. The result is of course in its own favor. A

78 FOOR YEARS AT YALE.

peculiarity of this list is the indication in the " sum-
mary" of the " cash value" of the honors. As Gamma
Nu takes most ol the scholarships, which are the only
" honors" whose " cash value" is of any consequence,
the reason of this is obvious. The highest elective, and
all but the highest literary, honors — and these are
accounted of more importance than any others — are
thus reduced to nothing in the " summary of cash val-
ues ;" while a single important scholarship makes a
greater display of dollars and cents than could all the
other honors of college combined. Another peculiarity
of the list is the publication of " the elective political
honors of the past year, that is, the officers of Linonia
and Brothers." Formerly, without doubt, these offices
might fairly be included among the honors ; but for some
years past the " elections" have gone by default, and an
" office" in one of these defunct institutions has been
quite as commonly considered a disgrace as an honor to
the holder. The present list, in its "grand total of the
four classes," gives Gamma Nu 109 honors with a cash
value of $2400; Sigma Eps 72, valued at $680; and
Delta Kap 62, valued at $316. Each society of course
possesses " strong points" of its own, and the effective-
ness of a prize list depends upon the skill with which
they are brought into prominence, and made to over-
shadow its shortcomings in those respects wherein a
rival list as evidently has the advantage. Of the verbal
arguments employed by the partisans of these societies
no description is possible, but nothing more absurd and
preposterous than much which is said in favor or against
them can well be imagined. Perhaps the claim which
excites the most general derision is that soberly advanced
by Gamma Nu men, to account for their want of success
in securing Freshmen, that " the number of their mem-
bers is designedly limited." On the whole, the oppos-

THE SO CIE TY S YS TEM. 7 9

ing arguments and prize lists may be said to prove
almost nothing, and to do little more than confuse
the "candidate" who attempts to compare them and
make out their significance.

In the college faculty Sigma Eps and Delta Kap are
each represented by a half-dozen professors, and Gamma
Nu by two or three tutors. Among other names to be
noticed in the Sigma Eps catalogue are those of Henry
T. Blake of 48, patron of the Wooden Spoon ; William
D. Bishop of '49, founder of a prize debate fund in
Linonia ; Cham-pion Bissell and Frederic B. Perkins of
'50 ; George W. Smalley of '53, London correspondent
of the Tribune ; Sidney E. Morse of '56, publisher of
the N. Y. Observer ; and many professors at other col-
leges, tutors at Yale, lawyers, doctors and clergymen.
Among Delta Kap men may be mentioned Charles D.
Gardette of '50 ; Homer B. Sprague, and William M.
Stewart, U. S. Senator from Nevada, of '52 ; Andrew D.
White, president of Cornell University, Charlton T.
Eewis, of the Evening Post, and Edmund C. Stedman,
of '53 ; Rev. William H. H. Murray of '62, with the
usual proportion of Yale tutors and outside professors, a
general or two upon either ^de during the late war, and
others. From the comparatively recent establishment
of Gamma Nu, it naturally happens that few well known
names can be found upon its lists.

The attempt to indicate the relative position of these
societies is rendered the more difficult by the anomalous
character ©f the youngest one, which calls for an ex-
tended explanation. Gamma' Nu was started as an open
society, in direct defiance of the established order of
things, and its founders, suffering the fate of all reformers,
were despised, derided and abused. Every possible
attempt was made to crush the " Gamma Nuisance" and
to bring its supporters to naught ; but spite of persecu-

8o FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

tion and obloquy — or perhaps because of them — the
society slowly gained ground, and finally fought its way
into recognition as a college institution. Attempts are
no longer made to break it up, or to debar its members
from the elective honors of the college ; yet a trace of
the old proscriptive spirit still manifests itself both in
the ill-defined prejudice against " Gamma Nu men"
which always prevails among the members of the other
societies, and in the instinctive consciousness on the
part of the former that they are " looked down upon" by
their rivals. The name is still a sort of reproach, and a
general sigh of " Too bad !" goes up when the fact is
known that some " good fellow" has " pledged to Gamma
Nu." Yet some "good fellows," and some of the very
best men, in every class, do go there — as also do some
of the very poorest. Two quite opposite motives draw
members thither : the one, a manly contempt for the
silly mummeries and greedy extortions attendant upon
the secret societies ; the other, a childish dread of the
pictured terrors of initiation. But as time passes on,
and the one influenced by the former consideration finds
that these evident faults as compared to offsetting advan-
tages are small, and the one influenced by the latter
finds that they are little more than inventions, — both
are apt to repent of their action. Probably few men
ever joined the society who were not afterwards, in their
own hearts, a trifle ashamed of it. The natural result
is a fierce attempt by zeal in its behalf to cover up the
disappointment. Gamma, Nu men fulfil their society
duties more faithfully than do others, electioneer more
persistently, attend to its interests more noticeably when
they become upper-class men, and so on. They are, in
short, harder workers, and, in proportion to their num-
bers, they secure a far larger share of the substantial
college awards. But by everything they do they show

THE SO CIE TV S YSTEM. 8 1

the consciousness of the hated social inferiority, against
which th»y sopliickily and hopelessly contend. Among
upper-class men, Sigma Eps may deride Delta Kap, and
it passes for a joke ; Delta Kap may insinuate that
Sigma Eps as a Junior blackballs all but his own men,
and nothing but laughter results ; but when the attempt
is made thus to jest about Gamma Nu, it falls flat. For
there is a sort of sneaking feeling that upper-class
Gamma Nu men do work for their freshman society on
occasion, and facetious references to the belief may
" hit" some one awkwardly. A man may be retailing the
most fearful slanders concerning either the secret socie-
ties without thinking who are his auditors, but the
moment he has said anything against Gamma Nu he
instinctively glances through them for fear lest some one
be ■ hurt."

The faculty have sometimes favored this society as
against the others, by giving notice that those who join
file latter diminish their chances of receiving pecuniary
assistance as indigent students. The principle, too,
which excites sympathy for "the under dog in the fight"
has drawn to the fold many of its best men. A few of
the weaklings — those who at the first secretly admired
the worst features of the other societies, but were afraid
to join them — often leave Gamma Nu, and sometimes
even join one of its rivals, — where, like all traitors, they
are received joyfully, and despised heartily ; while on
the other. hand no Sigma Eps or Delta Kap man ever
yet deserted his society for a rival one. • Yet almost
universally the foct is as stated, that the consciousness
of being under the ban of college opinion causes the
Gamma Nu men to make more of their society than do
any of the others. Much of the prejudice against it is
undoubtedly due to this, that it cannot lay claim to the
respect always given to consistent action. Its members

82 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

are as ready as anyone to join the upper-class secret
societies, so that the pretence of their being any " prin-
ciple" involved in its anti-secret character is of course
absurd. Such a society is only possible in freshman
year, for no man who understands the drift of things in
college could ever be persuaded to join it. In a broadly
general way, Gamma Nu may be called the society of
hard working scholarship, Sigma Eps of careless literary
excellence, and Delta Kap of good fellowship and socia-
bility ; though the characters here assigned as distinctive
of the two last are not so marked, perhaps, as that indi-
cated for the first, and their social standing in the col-
lege world is one of absolute equality. Judged by its
success. Delta Kap is at present " the best society," and
in it "an average man is likely to enjoy himself more and
improve his opportunities less than in either of the
others. The exact reverse in both these respects is
true of Gamma Nu ; while Sigma Eps occupies an inter-
mediate position — very much nearer the former than'
the latter. The scheme of exercises in the three socie-
ties is, as already stated, essentially identical ; the influ-
ence which each exerts in inclining a man to make the
most of his chances, is the thing in which they differ.
As to their " secrecy," it can hardly be said to amount
to more than this, that while Gamma Nu transacts only
part of its business with closed doors, the other two
societies keep theirs shut against outsiders altogether.
The transactions themselves, after freshman year at
least, are known to all who care to enquire about them.
It has been said that " some very poor men go to Gamma
Nu," and of course the same hold true of the other
societies ; but there is this important difference, that
while, from the smallness of its membership, a man
must in the first case be thrown in close contact with
those whom he dislikes, and be thought of as their com-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM.

panion, it happens in the case of the other societies
that their num.bers allows the formation of congenial
cliques with whom alone a man directly associates or is
associated in the popular mind. Thus the names of
these two societies become connected almost entirely
with their best representatives, and the poorer ones are
in some way overlooked ; so that in speaking of an
upper-class " pill," the habit is common to say, " Garmma
Nu man, I suppose?" and if the reply is, " No, I believe
he belonged to Sigma Eps," or " to Delta Kap," to add,
*' Well, he should have been one if he was n't."

The initiation, as it has been described, may perhaps
appear somewhat formidable, and it may be well to add
a few negative statements concerning it, and also to ex-
plain away the absurd fictions founded upon it, which
are annually current in the newspapers. In the first
place, there is nothing dangerous about the ceremony,
and no one ever comes to serious bodily harm. In ex-
ceedingly rare cases, from accident or carelessness, a
slight bruise or so may be inflicted, but as for the broken
arms and legs which excite so much editorial indigna-
tion, they are simply the myths of imaginative reporters
and nothing more. In 1869 a report, started by an ob-
scure city paper called the Lever ^ was copied all over
the country, to the effect that '' at the Delta Kap initia-
tion one Freshman had both bones of the forearm
broken short off near the elbow, and several others were
carried away in carriages in an insensible condition."
Of this so plausibly circumstantial a story the sole basis
was a carriage or two ; for the carriages were really
before the hall, and in them two or three Freshmen were
hurried off to the awaiting suppers, — their conductors
fearing to walk them thither lest they be "gobbled up"
on the way. The theory of the initiation is to try the
Freshman's nerves in every way, to scare him thoroughly,

84 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

but not to hurt him. There is nothing specially unpleas-
ant about being tossed in a blanket, and Freshmen often
toss one another for the mere fun of the thing. But a
blindfolded man, in a pandemonium of noises, and an
atmosphere of tobacco smoke, flying up and down
through illimitable space, needs all his wits about him
if he would keep cool and reason himself into a feeling
of security. No one has any right to enter college until
he is old enough to go through these imaginary terrors
without any great amount of flinching, but in the rare
instances when a very young Freshman shows signs of
faintness, at any point in the ceremony, the bandage is
at once pulled from his eyes and he is declared initiated :
a proceeding which is pretty certain to restore him forth-
with. Nor is it true that drunken men control the pro-
ceedings. A Sophomore or two may be present who
have plainly imbibed too freely at their suppers, but
they are closely watched by their sober compauions, and
prevented from putting Freshmen through any process
outside the regular programme. The stories of Fresh-
men being forced to lie down with corpses, in the base-
ment of the State House, or being really buried in
grave yards, or in the pit wliere the subjects from the
dissecting room are finally thrown, have no grain of
truth in them beyond the fact that the regular initiation
has sometimes been held in the State House basement,
and sometimes in the hall of the old Medical College.
A mask or wax-figure in a coffm may really be mistaken
for a corpse by a bewildered Freshman, and the lower-
ing of his encased form through a trap door may per-
haps startle him. There the imagined horror ends.
The many other fearful rumors, which prevail among
the uninitiated and fmd their way into print, when traced
to their source will be found to have no more ground-
work of reality than, the fables whose genesis has just
been indicated.

THE SO CIE TY S YS TEM. 8 5

On another point there seems to be a great misappre-
hension in the pubHc prints. According to newspaper
authority the suppers are bribes, and the initiation a
thing devised solely to punish those who do not "treat."
It has been already shown that the one thing does not
depend upon the other, that men are " put through"
without any regard to their liberality in the way of feast-
ing their conductors, and that nothing enrages the Soph-
omores more than to have upper-class men who have
been " treated" by Freshmen try to "get them through,"
solely on that account. Freshmen also, to avoid being
" stolen" by the wrong men, often pay their conductors
in advance the price of the supper they propose to fur-
nish, and by some accident or confusion it may in rare
cases happen that they do not share in the treat they
have paid for. This must be the foundation of the tales
of Sophomores extorting money from Freshmen, under
penalty of initiating them with severity, and quietly
putting it in their own pockets. This supper business,
which is really the worst feature of these societies, is
evidently bad enough in itself, without these imaginary
embellishments. It is, however, patterned after the
treats connected with entrance to the upper-class socie-
ties. But there, entertainers and entertained are fewer,
and more select, and to a great extent personally known
to each other, and the elected are supposed to show their
gratitude for the honor conferred upon them by their
superiors: while here, except in a few rare cases, both
parties to the supper are unacquainted, and either ene-
mies to one another or likely to become so ; everything
about the affair is constrained and unnatural ; and, with-
out the pretence of sociability — still worse, with the pre-
tence— the enjoyment is simply an animal one. In its
essence, the principle which induces a man to give the
expected supper in freshman year — that is, the active

86 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

desire to appear liberal or the passive one not to appear
mean — hardly differs from that which influences him on
similar occasions for the two years following ; yet the
" accidents" (as the logicians say) which surround its
display in the former case are much more repulsive and
disgraceful than in the latter.

Undoubtedly the initiation and its attendant customs
put an unusual amount of power into the hands of the
Sophomores, which those of them who, as compared
with the rest, are unscrupulous oftentimes abuse ; yet as
Freshmen have hardly acquired any distinct personality
or made any individual enemies up to the time they are
initiated, the private revenges which particular Sopho-
mores take this occasion to WTcak are not common. On
the whole, then, a fair-minded man who fully under-
stands the thing looks upon the initiation as a ceremony
silly, childish and perhaps a trifle disreputable, but cer-
tainly not cruel, nor malicious, nor barbarous ; while as
for the suppers, he either wishes that most of the upper-
class men who swallow them might choke in the process,
or, if a believer in the decency of human nature, reso-
lutely refuses to think of them at all.

To the boy fitting for Yale, this much of advice can
fairly be given : Pledge early to one of these three soci-
eties. Choose the one where your friends will be with
you, or the one which your upper-class friends recom-
mend. If you enter college alone and unacquainted,,
and have no preference in the matter, either decide up-
on your society in advance, by the simple expedient of
drawing lots or throwing dice, or else pledge to the first
society for which you are electioneered. You can gain
nothing by delay. You can learn nothing from partisan
arguments or prize lists. You can accomplish nothing
by personal inspection. Pledge at once, and your
troubles will be over. Attempt to find out " the best,"
and you wall be pretty certain to take up with the worst.

CHAPTER II.

SOPHOMORE SOCIETIES.

Kappa Sigma Theta— Alpha Sigma Phi— Phi Theta Psi — Delta
Beta Xi— The Yale " Banger" and " Tomahawk"— Chapters-
Posters and Song Books — Electioneering and Pledging — Giving
out Elections — Initiation — Ordinary Exercises — Singing — Class
Elections — The Sophomore Type.

Tradition has it that in the old days of Bully Clubs
and town-and-gown disturbances, there were sophomore
societies whose members were distinguished by the
peculiar shape of the clubs which they carried as
badges. Sometimes the societies grew out of the debat-
ing associations of freshman year, which each class
established for itself. Like them^ they seem to have
been without name or formal organization. Apparently,
the first regular sophomore society originated in the
class of '41, and started into being in July, 1838, though
a freshman debating club perhaps served as the nucleus
which drew its members together. It was called " Kappa
Sigma Theta," — though, as is the case of Sigma Eps,
the " Kappa" was popularly unrecognized, — and its
badge was a small rectangular gold plate on which,
above the society letters, the enwreathed, helmet-crested
head of Minerva was engraved. The surface of the pin
was glazed over, to prevent the engraving from become-
ing rubbed and worn. Besides its secret motto, Koivrig
Jiocpiag 08a, it had several open ones : Tu nihil invita
dices faciesve Mi?terva, To rov avdoMnov (istqov lariv 1)
(pQ^Vf and, Coronat scientia cultores suos, — of which the
first was the commonest. The story goes that, as the

88 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

sophomore year of '41 drew to its close, some members
of the society proposed that, instead of disbanding the
organization, it should be turned over to the incoming
Sophs of '42, in consideration of a supper given by
them. The respectable portion of the society opposed
the plan, and when the others took advantage of their
absence and carried it through, they themselves destroyed
the society plate and records. Sigma Theta, however,
thenceforth existed as a regular sophomore society, and
though a rival sprung up a few years later, it continued
to flourish until the sophomore year of '57, when ten or
a dozen of the ablest men of that class, most or all of
whom belonged to Sigma Theta or its rival, formed a
sort of select club, which was apparently intended to
last through the course and not to conflict with any of
the existing societies. Its badge resembled the original
one of Sigma Eps, and a room in Townsend's Block,
opposite the colleges, served as its place of meeting, but
the club never figured in the Bafine?-, and its name, if it
had any, has not been preserved. Though no mention
was ever made of it in any of the college prints, the.
existence of the club caused a great uproar throughout
college, especially among the Sophomores, and sopho-
more-society, men. Its members were said to be traitors
to the regular societies which they belonged to, and ene-
mies of the whole system, and so were expelled from
the former as a punishment for their crime. Few of
them ever got into the junior societies except by honor-
ary elections, and though several of them become sen-
ior-society men, more doubtless would have been elected
except for the unfortunate club. But the expulsion of
its best men from Sigma Theta, was that society's death
blow, for the internal dissensions which resulted there-
from were never harmonized, and things went on from
bad to worse until in 1858, when no more members could

rilE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 89

be induced to join it, the society definitely gave up the
ghost.

As already remarked, Sigma Theta was not left many
years without a rival, for the same class and some of the
same men who founded Delta Kap established in 1846
the " Alpha Sigma Phi," — whose name in its abbreviated
form of Sigma Phi is not to be confounded with a soci-
ety so designated which exists in other colleges. Its
badge in shape was an upright rectangle, almost a
square, a trifle less than an inch in diameter ; its device
was an open book, in white, displaying several hiero-
glyphic characters, and crowned by a pen ; below were
the letters "^ Z (h " in gold, — the pen and the frame-
work being of the same material, and the ground a
shield of black enamel. The wood-cut vignette of the
society was identical with its badge, except that the
framework surrounding the shield gave place in the
former to a rectangular wreath of oak leaves. Neither
badge nor vignette ever underwent the slightest change.
Its open motto was, Causa lately vis est iiotissima^ and its
secret one, 'yiooijoia, Zoqta, (htlla. Sigma Phi survived
its rival Sigma Theta only a half-dozen years, and in
1864 came to a rather inglorious end. The trouble
arose in this wise : About half of the Sigma Phi Sopho-
mores of ^66 were pledged to the junior society of Psi
U, and half to its rival DKE. Each faction wished that
a majority of the elections given to the Freshmen of
'67 should be received by those who were pledged to its
own junior society, and hence a fearful strife arose.
The final result of it was that each faction in turn
" expelled" the other from the society, gave out elections
to its own Freshmen, and initiated them without taking
them to the hall. This had in the meantime been
closed, for the faculty, influenced by the notoriously dis-
reputable character of the society, took advantage of

90 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the disorganized condition of things to order its sum-
mary abolishment. The Sophomores were forbidden to
give out any elections, and the Freshmen to receive any,
or to wear the Sigma Phi badge. Irregular elections
were nevertheless given out in the manner stated, and
the Freshmen evaded the other prohibition by wearing
badges from which the "^^ 2l 0 " had been erased, or
displaying the unmutilated badge only in places where it
could be done "in safety." This state of things could
not long continue. The elections had been given out in
the middle of the summer term, and, with the opening
of the new college year, the Psi U pledged men of '67,
who had received elections to Sigma Phi, set about the
establishment of a new sophomore society. The con-
sent of the faculty was at length obtained on the con-
ditions that the society should not bear the name, or
adopt the badge, or occupy the hall, or in any way be-
come the successor, of the late Sigma Phi ; that it
should give attention to literary exercises, and should
elect some member of the faculty an honorary member.
In obedience to these conditions was organized, in Octo-
ber, 1864, "Phi Theta Psi," — called, of course, Theta
Psi, simply, — with a badge shaped like that of Sigma
Phi, but having as a device, upon a black enamel ground-
work, a golden raven perched upon a white closed book,
below the letters " f/> 0 ^K" A month or two after
Theta Psi's appearance, under the same conditions, the
DKE faction were allowed to establish " Delta Beta
Xi," — called Beta Xi, or rarely DBX, — with a badge
and wood-cut vignette identical with those of Sigma Phi,
except that the letters '^'A B ^'' superseded the orig-
inal ^'■A Z 0." Even now, Beta Xi men often wear
pins bearing the old letters. Sigma Phi was the only
society ever abolished by the faculty, and its two suc-
cessors are probably the last which they will ever con-

I

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 91

sent to have established. Prof. Thacher of '35 was the
honorary member chosen by Theta Psi from among
[the faculty ; Prof Northrop of '57, the one chosen by
Beta Xi.

A feature of the two earlier sophomore societies, of
which no trace remains in those now existing, was the
publication of annual " feuilletons," or printed attacks
upon one another and the college world in general.
Sigma Theta's " paper" was called the Yale Banger^
apparently to burlesque the Yale Banner^ and displayed
a heavy club-cane, or " banger" in its heading, — this
species of walking stick being esteemed by tradition the
Sophomore's peculiar property. At the head of the
Banger's first page was displayed the vignette of Sigma
Theta, with its list of members ; then followed lists of
the other societies, accompanied in each case by bur-
lesque badges and mottoes, Sigma Phi of course getting
its full share of notice. The remaining three pages
comprised personal and political gossip, poetry, adver-
tisements, and notices, of a more or less scurrilous
character. The paper was issued in the fall term of the
six years 1845-50, and the spring term of '52. Its
rival, the Tomahawk of Sigma Phi, followed it by a
month or two, but, appearing first in 1847, issued only
five numbers in all. This paper displayed but two cuts :
the one, at the head of the first page, a distortion of the
Sigma Theta badge, accompanied by an abusive article
regarding that society ; the other, at the head of the
editorial column on the second page, a genuine Sigma
Phi badge, accompanied by a list of members. This
paper had nothing to say of the upper-class societies,
but bestowed its derision solely upon Sigma Theta and
its freshman inferiors, and though its general character
was not unlike that of the Banger^ its tone was yet a
trifle more disreputable. So far as appears at this day,

92 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the Banger^s ridicule of all the upper-class societies, was
impartial and without discrimination, and when it is
borne in mind that the Sophomores responsible for it
were all desirous of joining these societies in the future,
they deserve some credit for their independence, what-
ever may be thought of their taste. This cannot be said
of the Tomahawk, whose conductors never ventured
upon dangerous ground. The only other society paper
v/as the Battery, issued by the Delta Kap Freshmen, in
February, 1850, which, by the aid of a sanguinary wood-
cut and hardly less dreadful letterpress, was enabled to
" use up" most effectually its rivals <ind oppressors.

A society called "Kappa Delta Phi" which was
started at the Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn.,
at about the same time that Sigma Theta appeared at
Yale, and which had also adopted Minerva's head as its
badge, was persuaded to change its name and become a
chapter of Sigma Theta ; but it shortly afterwards un-
derwent another change, and became the Xi chapter of
Psi U, under which name it exists at the parent day.
Another chapter of Sigma Theta was extant at Amherst
College in Massachusetts, in 1852, when it issued a sheet
called the Amherst Scorpion^ \n\\\qX\ was a worthy coun-
terpart of the Yale Banger, published by the parent
chapter. If any additional chapters ever existed, they
long ago died or became absorbed in some stronger fra-
ternity. Sigma Phi established a chapter called the
" Delta " at Marietta College in Ohio, where it still
flourishes, though not as a distinctively sophomore
society. It of course has been independent of Yale
since the death of the original " Alpha " chapter in 1864.
The "Beta" was established at Amherst in 1847, but
was abolished by the faculty, after a few months' exist-
ence. The " Gamma " was established at Princeton in
1854, and had a somewhat longer life, though the

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 93

general decree against all such societies finally killed it.
Beta Xi calls itself the "Alpha" and Theta Psi the "Phi,"
but, as neither have yet established any outside branches,
these chapter titles have no special significance. The
reasons given in the case of the freshman societies
show equally well why the chapter system will be apt to
fail in sophomore year also. There is, besides, as will
be shown hereafter, less to these societies than there is
' to those of the other years ; they are little more than
tenders of the junior organizations ; and the interest in
them, considered apart from the junior societies they
represent, is very small indeed. No Yale sophomore
society has ever yet published a catalogue of its
members.

The steel-plate poster of Theta Psi represents the sun
rising over the waves, and supporting the letters
" 0 0 U^*" amid its rays ; above the shield on which this
is pictured rests the raven upon his book ; below it is a
bull dog's head ; while upon the scroll-work surrounding
the design rests a band bearing the motto, Amici, usque
ad aras, and the letters, "J. C." The wood-cut vig-
nettes, of which there have been two or three varieties,
are of the same general design. The Beta Xi poster
reproduces the design of the pin, and amid the orna-
mental scroll-work which sets off the central shield are
the words, "Alpha," "Yale," the date " 1864," and the
letters " C. L. V. E. N.," initials of the old Sigma Phi
motto before given, which, through printed in full at the
head of the Tomahawk^ is not in these days generally
known outside the society, except in the version, " Col-
lege laws violated every night." In smaller characters,
the old letters "^ Z 0 " and date " 1846 " are also dis-
played upon the design. The Beta Xi song book also
contains all the old Sigma Phi songs, and the name was
apparently chosen so as to be interchangeable with the

94 FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

latter. In every way this society makes prominent its
parentage and represents itself as the " legitimate suc-
cessor " of the old one. Theta Psi, on the other hand,
though the eldest child, and holding undisputed the
proud position of "oldest sophomore society," makes
no claim for the succession, but prefers to keep its
ultimate ancestry in the background, and in its songs
greets without much respect " the bones of the dead,
defunct and euchered Sigma Phi." Each society
possesses a few Sigma Phi relics, — Beta Xi a larger
proportion, — though what little portable property of any
value the old society held at the time of its death was
probably seized upon by its indignant creditors. The
Theta Psi hall is [was] in the Cutler Building, corner
of Chapel and Church streets, a quarter of a mile from
the colleges, and a rod or two from the hall of Delta
Kap. Beta Xi hall is in Townsend's Block, corner of
Chapel and College streets, directly opposite the col-
lege yard itself Both halls have been occupied since
the societies were established, and are quite elegantly
fitted up. That of Beta Xi is considerably the larger,
and has the advantage — disadvantage, some say — in the
matter of locality. Each hall is guarded without by a
heavy iron door, and supplied with a well-equipped
stage within — as a sophomore society without theatricals
would be an absurdity difficult for a college man to con-
ceive of soberly. Since the above was written, Theta
Psi has deserted Cutler Corner and moved into the old
Diggers' hall in Lyon Building, which, after refitting at
an expense of $i,ooo, it "opened " with a grand cele-
bration on February 25, 1870. It now claims to have
the most handsomely furnished hall in college.

When the Freshmen have been in college about a
month or two, it begins to be generally known among
them that certain of their number are being pledged by

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 95

the upper-class men to join their societies. These
chosen' ones are soon perceived to be " their most
prominent men," and as the line between the pledged
and unpledged becomes more sharply drawn, the latter
are seized with an irresistible inclination to get their
names also enrolled among the elect. Sometimes the
sophomore societies act with nominal independence in
this matter ; more often in their real characters as ten-
ders to the organizations of junior year. These latter,
by means of committees, make haste to pledge all the
P>eshmen who at first view are desirable, and each of
them having thus formed a nucleus of pledged men as a
working force, is content to entrust to them in some
measure the making up of "its crowd." Thereafter the
upper-class committee and the pledged Freshmen act in
concert. If the latter, by secret ballot, unanimously
recommend a class-mate, the former will probably pledge
him ; or if, on the other hand, they strongly object to a man
recommended them by the committee, he will probably
not be pledged. The committee or the society which it
acts for are of course not bound in either case to do
as indicated, but it is not often that they venture to set
aside the wishes of the pledged men, either to reject a
man recommended by, or to take one unpopular with,
the latter. Each man as soon as pledged of course has
the right to vote upon all names afterwards recom-
mended, so that those latest chosen undergo a closer
scrutiny as to their qualifications than do the compo-
nents of the original nucleus. For the first two years
after the present sophomore societies were started,
neither of them pledged independently. The Freshmen
who pledged to DKE were assured of elections to Beta
Xi, while those who pledged to Psi U — and Delta Phi
also, though to a lesser extent — implied that their
chances for Theta Psi were "good," though they were

96 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

promised nothing. Then followed a year when none of
these societies gave pledges ; but since that time the
sophomore societies have had regular pledging com-
mittees, and though most of those pledged to Theta Psi
are also pledged to Psi U by the Juniors, and those to
Beta Xi to DKE, it happens that in many cases the dis-
tinction is not observed. A man rarely refuses a pledge
to a sophomore society, and the reason for the cases in
which it is done is the pecuniary one solely.

About a month after the third term begins, rumors
prevail among the Freshmen that the sophomore elec-
tions are soon to be given out. Though most of the
men are definitely "pledged" in advance, there is
always enough uncertainty as to the fact of their actual
election to make the best of them feel a trifle anxious,
as the time draws nigh for the official announcement of
their fate ; while those who are not pledged hope
against hope that when the hour actually comes, " some-
thing will turn up " to place their names among the
elect. Both societies generally agree upon the same
night, which is usually that of Friday, for the giving out
of elections — though there is no settled rule about the
matter, either way. On the appointed evening, the
sophomore, junior and senior members assemble at the
society hall, and at a late hour, not much before mid-
night, sally forth in a body upon their errand, marching
by classes in the order named, the president or some
other official, distinguished by a dark-lantern, leading
the way, upon the " route " marked out in advance.
Arriving at the rooms of the nearest Freshman, the
procession halts, and sings a society song or two ; then
the Sophomore appointed for the purpose goes up to the
room and says something to this effect : " Mr. So and So,
I have the honor [or " the pleasure," or simply " I offer "]
of offering you an election to the So and So fraternity.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 97

Do you accept?" Of course the Freshman says Yes,
upon which the Soph congratulates him, and the whole
party file in and do the same, each individual shaking
him heartily by the hand. Congratulations over, the
society men at once fall to discussing the provided
" spread " of fruits, cake, and wine, and having partaken
of the entertainment and lit fresh cigars, they assemble
outside again, sing another song, and perhaps cheer a
little, and proceed on their way to the next stopping
place, where the ceremony is again repeated. If, as is
usually the case, several pledged Freshmen are as-
sembled at a single room, instead of one, a correspond-
ing number of Sophomores go up to give them their elec-
tions, for each Sophomore has a particular Freshman
assigned him to whom he is to offer the honor.

This theoretical manner of proceeding, however, is
not apt to be observed after the first few elections have
been given out. It generally happens that before the
men deputed for the purpose have had time to offer any
formal words, the crowd at their heels fill the room, and
attack the eatables, without wasting time in hand-shaking
or congratulation. A few are generally found who will
secretly lug off a bottle of champagne or handful of
cigars for future consumption. The procession grows
more and more hilarious, and its songs hoarser and
huskier as to utterance, until towards the last it is little
better than a disorderly crowd, whose members are apt
|o laugh when some one smashes a street lamp with a
banana, or tosses an orange through on open window ;
and when it has given out its final election, it lingers
longingly about the concluding " treat," and perhaps is
at length obliged to drag away by main force a few of its
tipsiest members, who drowsily insist on ^'making a
night of it," then and there. The disorder and rowdyism
ire due almost exclusively to members of the two upper
6

98 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

classes ; were the Sophomores left to themselves, disci-
pline would be maintained. The elected Freshmen of
the same or different societies meet together over the
remains of their spreads, and " celebrate " their good
fortune more or less uproariously, so that it is very near
daylight when the last of them are once more quiet in
their beds. Sometimes an expectant Fresh hears the
society move by his house without stopping, and goes to
bed in despair, only to be aroused on its return trip and
suddenly made happy by receiving the pledged election.
Sometimes an over-confident one prepares a treat for
guests who never call. Sometimes an irate landlord,
roused from sleep by the tramp of a disorganized host
through his dwelling, and lashed into a frenzy by their
discordant melodies, ejects from the house the Fresh-
man lodger upon whom the honor has been bestowed,
and writes off to his parents how their son has fallen
into evil ways, and become the habitual entertainer of
midnight revelers. Generally, however, the boarding
house keepers, knowing the character of the thing, and
remembering that it comes only one night in a year,
recognize it as a necessary evil, and submit to the in-
fliction with as good grace as may be.

As the treat, formerly a trifling and impromptu affair,
has gradually grown in importance, the custom comes
more and more into vogue of offering it in the dining
room of a hotel or restaurant, whither the half dozen
or so who combine in paying for it go to receive theit
elections, in place of having them at their rooms. This
proceeding of course prevents any unpleasantness with
the private landlords. The Freshmen are generally ad-
vised in an unofficial manner as to the evening when
they may expect elections, and in case a pledged man is
not to receive an election, he usually receives a hint to
that effect beforehand. A card, bearinnj on one side the

I

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 99

society vignette, on the other the names of the men
elected, is given to each man, so that after one election
has been given out, the whole are in a measure made
public, for the receiver of the card may contrive to
hurry off and show it to the men named upon it, in
advance of the procession which formally presents it to
them. 71ie names are usually printed, but in cases
where elections were contested until the moment of
issuing them, they are written with ink instead.

An interval of two or three weeks elapses before
initiation takes place. Both societies may adopt the
same evening, — usually that of Friday or Wednesday, —
though about this there is the same indefiniteness, as
about the times of giving out elections. The Freshmen
having paid an initiation fee of from fifteen to twenty-
five dollars, — to one of their own number, appointed
collector by the Sophomores, and on account of his
trouble excused from paying any fee for himself, — are
directed, by a printed note addressed to each, to assem-
ble at some particular room occupied by a Sophomore,
at an early hour of the appointed evening. Here they
are perhaps supplied with cigars, and left by themselves,
to smoke and talk over the prospect before them, until
summoned for initiation. They are generally led away
alphabetically, from time to time, in parties of a half
dozen or so, until in the course of an hour or more all
have been put through the ceremony. What this is to
consist of greatly exercises the freshman mind, and
rumors that it is merely a formal rite are contradicted
by other rumors that it is a thing considerably more
unpleasant than the freshman initiation itself. The lat-
ter are the ones most credited by the Freshmen, while
college belief in general rather favors the former. This
much at least is certain, that the initiation is confined
entirely to the society halls, and if some strange noises

lOO FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

do that night emanate therefrom, the Freshmen come
out of the ordeal not perceptibly injured, and the city
newspapers print no facts or fancies concerning it. All
the upper-class members are present at the initiation,
and at the play which follows it, and at the supper which
comes after the play. In old times thi.s initiation supper
was partaken of in the dining room of some hotel, and
the bills of fore were embellished with the society
vignette and motto, but the present societies have always
held their suppers in or near their halls. It is rarely
that any drink stronger than wine is provided at these
suppers, though upper-class men may smuggle in a few
bottles of more fiery beverage for their own private use,
and after the newly initiated members have been dis-
missed^ stay behind and "celebrate" by themselves.
Next morning the Freshmen swing out their square pins
with great pride, not unmingled with pity, in many cases,
for friends who were less fortunate than themselves.
The freshman-society pins are still worn, however. In
some cases the two are displayed side by side upon the
vest, though more often the freshman pin is attached to
the vest, and the sophomore badge to the shirt bosom,
by the man who sports them both. In sophomore year,
when the freshman pin has been discarded, the badge is
oftener worn upon the shirt bosom, than in freshman
year, and when attached to the vest is usually worn
lower down than in that latter year.

The meetings of the sophomore societies are held
each Saturday evening, from about ten o'clock till mid-
night, or a little past. Theta Psi generally sings as it
marches up Chapel street to the colleges, and gives
forth an additional song or two from the corner of the
college fence before it disbands. Beta Xi also sings its
songs upon that corner, at the close of its meetings. It
sometimes happens that the two societies, reaching the

I

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. I o I

fence at about the same time, take up positions at a
short distance from one another and " sing with respon-
sive strains," — each society after offering one of its songs,
pausing long enough to let the other sing out one of its
own, before proceeding with the next. Perhaps, after
having sung themselves out, both societies give cheers
for each other, and so disperse. Similarly, when the
two processions engaged in giving out elections chance
to pass near one another, songs and cheers may be ex-
changed. On the other hand, less creditably and good
naturedly, each society has on some occasions tried by
singing to drown the voices of the other. These soci-
ety songs, without being of a very high order of compo-
sition, are yet possessed of a sort of jovial melody, well
adapted to the capacity of the miscellaneous voices
accustomed to render them. In several of the Theta
Psi songs, the " caw !" of the raven is introduced with
fantastic effect. Though the present tense is retained
in this paragraph, the state of things described no
longer really exists, since, within a year, all society sing-
ing has been forbidden by the college authorities ; while
of their own accord the Sophomores have substituted
Friday night, for the traditional Saturday night, as the
time for holding their meetings. For a while, after that
singing had been brought under the ban, each society
used to march in a body to the college corner, and
there shout the names of its three Greek letters, with one
sharp and united cry, as a signal for breaking up. But
this practice was also forbidden.

Though the songs were thus publicly sung upon the
street, the song books are kept secret with great care,
and never shown to outsiders by active members. Nor
do these often mention or refer to their societies in pri-
vate except to other members, and hence outsiders
rarely speak to a Sophomore concerning his or a rival

I02 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

society. Among upper-class men of course this careful-
ness does not prevail, but on the whole the sophomore
societies are, except those of senior year, more secret
than any others, — for in the sophomore class little is
known of their doings except by their members, while
in the junior class the proceedings of the junior societies
are generally understood by nearly everyone. Seniors
or even Juniors do not hesitate to talk over in public the
good points of the last play which they attended at their
sophomore society, and the " bum" held in connection
with it. The general impression to be gained by an
outsider, from their conversation and otherwise, is that
the hall of the institution in question is a sort of club
room where Sophomores drop in on Friday nights to
play cards, smoke clay pipes and sip ale with one
another. The junior class will often be represented
there, but never in force except on special occasions, as
when there is a play, or a regular supper, or a contested
election. At such times Seniors also are wont to
appear. A graduate rarely comes to the hall except
brought up there by a Senior, or under-class man. Old
Sigma Phi men if members of Psi U are admitted to
Theta Psi, if members of DKE to Beta Xi, " and no
questions asked ;" though most of them in the two or
three classes preceding that of '67, which founded the
societies, were regularly elected and initiated as honor-
ary members of one or the other organization, according
to the rule indicated. Of course no old graduate ever
goes near one of the sophomore halls, unless invited
thither by some active or recent member. But a Senior
would not hesitate to invite any old graduate to join
him in making a call at such a place, without any regard
to that old graduate's connection, or want of it, with
Sigma Phi, or any other sophomore or junior society.
Thirty is the number of elections generally given out

THE SOCIE TY S YSTEM. 103

"each society, and as both combined make up less
than half an average class, of course many desirable men
are still left out, whom their luckier classmates wish to
have " in " with themselves. They rarely give out any
new elections, however, until the new year has opened
and they themselves are Sophomores. Then, when they
have succeeded in electing a classmate, he is either
brought at once to the hall by a messenger and initiated
forthwith, or the society — upper-class men and all —
march in procession to his room, singing songs and
offering congratulations, after the old manner, and
'escort him back to the society hall. As a class election
usually comes upon a man unexpectedly, a treat is not
expected of him, yet if several are elected at once they
often combine to give a supper at the hall, shortly after-
wards ; or a single individual who happens to be free
with his money may after his election bear the whole
expense of a society "spread." When honorary mem-
bers are elected from the two upper classes — and almost
any Junior or Senior is glad to receive an election — a
single classmate of the chosen one conducts him to the
initiation. All names are voted upon separately by
secret ballot, and a single negative vote is usually suf-
ficient to reject a candidate. The ballot box is so
arranged that each man can cast his vote without show-
ing it or even seeing it himself ; one compartment con-
tains a number of white cubes (signifying Yes) and black
balls (signifying No), and the voters selecting one of
these thrusts it into the other compartment of the box
undetected.

There is always considerably difficulty in reconciling
the conflicting choices in the matter of elections. A
man whose friend is blackballed, may vow to reject
everyone else until his friend has been elected, and so
on. An approved device for overcoming many difficul-

104 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ties is to " pair off" opposing candidates and elect them
both on a joint ticket. In the case of class elections
there is apt to be more than usual contention, for there
is greater personal interest in the men, and the number
allowed is much smaller, and the voters are bound by
no pledge of any sort to say Yes. Pledged men, to be
sure, are sometimes rejected, when formally offered for
election ; but it is accounted rather dishonorable for a
society to do this in many cases without special reasons,
and unless a man's reputation or social standing changes
greatly for the worse after he obtains a pledge, he may
feel pretty confident of receiving his election also. It
is very seldom, too, that a single blackball keeps a man
from a society. However stubborn the caster of it may
be at first, the "pressure " brought to bear upon him by
the whole society arrayed in opposition is so enormous,
that he is at length glad to reverse his vote and submit
to the will of the majority. As the mortality among
sophomore-society men is usually large, the eight or ten
class elections given at various times during the year
rarely bring the active force above thirty in number.
The last Sophomores are taken in just before the pro-
cession starts forth to give out elections to the Fresh-
men, and are not required to pay any initiation fees.
The presidency and lesser offices of these societies are
not accounted of much importance, and it is very rarely
that there is the least excitement in regard to them.
Even upper-class men seldom mention their incumbents,
— though this is probably due more to the absence of any
interest concerning them than to any settled objection
against the betrayal of " secrets." The annual expenses
of membership are perhaps ten or fifteen dollars greater
than in the societies of freshman year.

The sophomore year is a sort of transition period,
and the sophomore society fairly enough represents it.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. to^

Everything is unsettled ; men's positions are every day
changing both relatively and absolutely ; and the fast,
loud-mouthed element in the community is to all appear-
ances the ruling one. For the first time the line between
"society-men" and "neutrals" is plainly drawn, and
the sheep are separated from the goats. There is a
keener pleasure in sporting the sophomore badge, a
sharper regret at the inability to do so, than is possible
in after years. The lucky Soph, turning his back upon
the " heavy literary " performances of his freshman year,
thinks that the only true enjoyment of a select society
must lie in going to the other extreme, and doing nothing
whatever that smacks in any way of honest labor or
improvement. The quiet, substantial men, who figure
prominently afterwards, are in the class and society
now, but they keep in the background, and are over-
shadowed by the light-headed, noisier crew who are
suffered to have things all their own way. Next year,
may be, the reverse will appear ; for the societies of two
different years, composed in succession of essentially the
same individuals, may and in fact often do, differ widely
in character and purpose. The faults of the sophomore
society are usually exaggerated by friends and enemies
alike. It does not as a matter of fact encourage drunken-
ness or immorality, — though it may sometimes affect to
do so. Perhaps the worst thing that can be fairly charged
against it is its frivolous and purposeless character. It
inspires a sort of pride in its members, but no aifection.
They look back upon their connection with it as a joke,
and are careless as to its subsequent fate. It would
probably be more hopeless to solicit money from them
in its behalf than to ask it for their freshman society.
Yet, after all, few would willingly part with the host of
conflicting memories reflected in the halo of very doubt-
ful glory which encircles its name.
6*

CFIAPTER III.

JUNIOR SOCIETIES,

Alpha Delta Phi — Psi Upsilon — Delta Kappa Epsilon — Badges,
Vignettes and Mottoes — Catalogues, Chapters and Membership
— The Death of Old Chapters and the Origin of New Ones —
Names of Prominent Members — General Conventions — Inter-
course between the Chapters — Giving out Elections — Initiation
— Meetings and Exercises — Halls — Corporate Titles — The
Course of Politics in '69 (the Freshman Societies ; the Annual
Jubilee Committee ; the Gamma-Nu-Delta-Phi Embroglio ; the
Cochs and " Lit." Editors) — The Eftect upon Delta Phi — Agree-
ments concerning the Freshmen — Real Character of a Coalition
— The Division of the Spoils— The Contested Elections of Mem-
bers— Duration of Society Influences —Comparison of the
Societies.

There are three junior societies, and they are the only
ones ever estabHshed in that class, — a fact which no
other year can boast of. The Skull and Bones of senior
year is the only class society which has the advantage
of two of them in point of age. And these two, it may
be remarked, are the only Yale societies, aside from Phi
Beta Kappa, which originated outside of the college.
"Alpha Delta Phi," which was founded at Hamilton
College in 1832, established four years later its "Yale"
chapter, which was the eighth in order. The abbre-
viated title of Delta Phi should not be confounded with
the society of that name which exists in several colleges.
Outside of Yale, Delta Phi is always spoken of as Alpha
Delt. " Psi Upsilon," which was founded at Union Col-
lege in i83'3, established its third ("Beta") chapter at
Yale in 1838. The name is always shortened to Psi U.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. I07

" Delta Kappa Epsilon" — formerly called Delta Kappa
Eps, but now invariably DKE — was founded in 1844
by the class of '46.

The badge of Delta Phi is an oblong slab, an inch in
length, with rounded corners, displaying on a ground-
work of black enamel a white crescent surmounted by a
green star; below is the date "1832," and upon the
crescent the letters "^ A </>," both in gold. The wear-
ing of badges of this sort has within the last year been
mostly abandoned, in favor of the " skeleton pins,"
which were formerly worn by none but Seniors and
graduates. Of these pins there are many varieties.
They are formed of the star and crescent simply, and
according to the taste or wealth of the individual are
made either of plain gold and enamel, or set off with
pearls and precious stones — an emerald in the center of
the star being perhaps the favorite one, though it some-
times gives place to a ruby, amethyst, or diamond.
Green and white ribbons are sometimes worn in the
button hole as society colors. The wood-cut vignette
was formerly an enlarged representation of the regular
badge pin, and -there have been several different pat-
terns, but the one now commonly employed at Yale dis-
plays a plain star and crescent upon a dark shield,
crossed behind by a sword and spear, supporting below the
motto, Manns mtcltce, cor uniim. Above the shield is a
ring of stars. The steel-plate poster is the same design
more elaborated, with the letters indicated upon the
crescent, the date below the shield, the words " Alpha
Delta Phi, Fraternity," and the name of the chapter
within the circle of stars. The Psi U badge is a simple
diamond-shaped pin, a little more than an inch in length,
displaying upon a groundwork of black enamel the sin-
gle emblem of the clasped hands, with ""^F" above and
"T" below. The skeleton pin of this society is a mon-

Io8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ogram made up of the two letters which compose its
name, sometimes ornamented with pearls and precious
stones, though more commonly plain. A miniature
copy of the regular diamond-shaped badge, ornamented
with pearls, rubies, etc., is worn by some members of
the western chapters, though not authorized by the soci-
ety. The common vignette is an enlarged copy of the
badge, surmounted by a peculiar kind of scroll-work
which leave the date " 1833." Another one represents
the pin surrounded by the chapter letters, enclosed in
a wreath of oak and olive, with " 1833" in rays above
and " Fraternity" upon a scroll below. The seal of the
society represents an owl grasping a fasces bound
together by the motto. Fit via vi. Nd\iiC ddelqjovi; rovg
dhfiivovg (pilovg, was the motto upon the title page of
the catalogue of 1864. The DKE pin is of the same
size and shape as that of the Psi U. Its device is a
white scroll, bearing the letters "z/ K E" ; below is the
name of the college where the chapter is situated ; in
each angle is a star ; the groundwork is the usual black
enamel. The skeleton badge consists simply of the
white scroll and letters, somewhat enlarged. At first,
the vignette was simply a copy of the badge, but an
entirely independent design was afterwards devised as a
coat of arms, and this has since formed the chief part
of the vignette : A white (argent) central shield — dis-
playing a rampant lion, a pair of crossed keys and an
ear — is surmounted by an outer shield, divided by vari-
ous cross bars and chevrons, with the colors blue (azure),
red (gules), and gold (or), indicated in the regular her-
aldic manner. An open eye looks forth from the upper
part of the outer shield, and a pair of hearts, one on
each side, are joined by a chain which sustains at the
bottom the letter or letters denoting the chapter. In
the usual vignette this double shield is surmounted by

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 109

crossed swords, and a winged globe bearing the letters
"z/ K E" ; while the motto, J^ijQodev (filoi an, figures on
a scroll beneath, and rays of light set off the whole de-
sign. There are several variations from this pattern, but
all the vignettes agree in displaying the elaborate
double-shield design. This is also the chief device in
the steel-plate poster, which resembles a seal or medal
— being circular in shape and three inches in diameter.
The motto just given is expressed upon the upper part
of the encircling band, and upon the lower, within a
scroll, are the letters "z/ K E " ; while ornamental
wreath-work fills the space between the shield and the
band. The Delta Phi poster is the only one often seen
at Yale, as members of the other two societies prefer
to display richly-framed photographic views of their re-
spective society halls, in place thereof. The regular
pins are essentially alike in all the chapters, though
different manufacturers may slightly vary in the details
of their workmanship. Phi U's badge is the neatest of
the three, and Delta Phi's the ugliest. As for the skel-
eton pin of the' latter, it would hardly be taken for a
society badge at all, but rather for a bit of ornamental
jewelry. Formerly, when the slab badge only was worn
by the active members. Delta Phi men who were senior
neutrals very generally wore the skeleton, and a few
still keep up the practice. Very rarely, too, a skeleton
Psi U badge maybe noticed, but that of DKE is never
seen at all. Chapter letters of gold, attached to the
main badge by a minute chain, in the manner described
for the freshman societies, are worn by some of the
Psi U and DKE men, at a few of the colleges, though
never at Yale. Upon the backs of the regular badges
are engraved the owner's name and class and the
peculiar Greek symbols allotted to him, together with
the letter of the chapter ; and in the case of Delta Phi

no FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

a crossed sword and spear surmounting a sort of mon-
ument, are also added. Yale Seniors sometimes wear
their junior year badges in such a position upon their
vests as to be usually concealed from sight ; the Juniors
occasionally wear their sophomore pins in a similar
manner. Monograms of the society letters, carved in
black walnut or other suitable wood, are sometimes to
be seen ; and, aside from what has been mentioned,
the number of engraved vignettes, ornaments, mono-
grams, stamps and seals, in use by the societies, or their
separate chapters, is quite large. Yale men, however,
seldom display the insignia of their junior societies upon
their note paper and envelopes.

It is through these third-year organizations solely that
Yale shares in the general system of secret societies that
is in vogue throughout most of the colleges. Though
there are other important chaptered fraternities existing
in American colleges, the three represented at Yale are
undoubtedly the leading and most extensive ones, and a
few statistical facts in regard to them may not be with-
out value. The last catalogue of Delta Phi appeared in
June, 1870 ; that of Psi U in December of the same
year; and that of DKE in May of the present year.
The arrangement is similar in all of them : the chapters
standing in the order of their establishment ; the mem-
bers alphabetically by classes in the order of their
graduation ; a list of chapters preceding, and an alpha-
betical list of members following, the main body of the
catalogue. In this index are given the class and chapter
of each man, so that his residence, symbols, and other
facts concerning him can at once be found by turning to
the main catalogue. The exact signification of these
symbols is not generally known among the uninitiated ;
yet it can do no harm to remark that, aside from being
different in themselves, they are used by each society
for an altogether different purpose.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 1 1 1

The current catalogue of Delta Phi comprises 287
pages, and was printed by Curtiss & Childs of Utica,
N. Y. Its title-page is surrounded by an ornamental
border of green and red, and is faced by a wood-cut
frontispiece representing the society emblems. Upon
the outside of its green paper cover is a wood-cut mono-
gram composed of the initials "^ A (D " and the date
" 1832." The last preceding catalogue was printed by
J. H. Benham of New Haven, in i860, and comprised
T95 pages, of much less creditable typography. This
society, unlike others, confers local rather than Greek-
letter names upon its chapters. In the following list the
name first given is that of the chapter, the date signifies
the year or class in which it was founded, and the final
numeral the number of its members up to the time in
1870 when the catalogue was issued :

1. Hamilton; Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. ; 1832 ; 287.

2. Miami ; Miami University, Oxford, O. ; 1834; 185.

3. *Urban; NewYork University, N.Y. City; 1835 (*diedi839); 24.

4. ^Columbia; Columbia College, N.Y. City; 1836 (*died 1840); 32.

5. Amherst; Amherst College, Amlierst, Mass. ; 1837; 331.

6. Brunonian ; Brown University, Providence, R. I. ; 1837 ; 156.

7. *Harvard; Harvard Coll., Cambridge, Mass.; i837(*d.'65); 307.

8. Ya/e ; Yale College, New Haven, Conn.; 1837 ; 740.

9. Geneva; Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. ; 1838; 162.

10. Bowdoin ; Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. ; 1839; 182.

11. Hudson; Western Reserve College, Hudson, O. ; 1840; 138.

12. Peninsula ; Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. ; 1845; 193.

13. Dartmouth; Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H, ; 1845; "^11-

14. Rochester; Rochester University, Rochester, N, Y.; 1851 ; 117.

15. Alabama; Alabama Univ., Tuscaloosa, Ala. ; 185 1 (*d. '59); 51.

16. Williams; Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.; 1851; 132.

17. Manhattan; New York City-College, N.Y. City; 1854; 138.

18. Middletown ; Wesleyan Univ., Middletown, Conn. ; 1855 ; 152.

19. Kenyon; Kenyon College, Gambler, O. ; 1858 ; 28.

20. Union ; Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. ; 1858 ; 84.

21. *Cumberland; Cumberl'dUn., Lebanon,Tenn.; i858(d.'6i); 27.

22. Cornell ; Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. ; 1870 ; 16.

112 FOUR YEARS AT VALE.

Deducting from the membership as here set forth about
25 names for repetitions and 35 for honorary members,
and a total of 3650 is exhibited, against a total of 2300
shown by the catalogue of i860. Delta Phi has also
four alumni associations, or "graduate chapters": at
Cincinnati, established 1846 ; Cleveland, 1866 ; Chicago,
1867 ; and New York, 1868.

The Psi U catalogue was published " under the super-
vision of the Beta chapter," and printed by Tuttle,
Morehouse & Taylor, and comprises 233 pages. A tint-
printed, wood-cut emblematical vignette, hinting at the
significance of the chapter letter, serves as a frontispiece
to each chapter, while the frontispiece to the main work
itself consists of a finely-executed steel-plate engraving,
— designed by Gavit & Co. of Albany, — representing a
wall and archway, ornamented with the emblems and
insignia of the society, while through the arch is seen
the rising sun, lighting up the ocean waves as they dash
upon a solitary rock. The work is by far the hand-
somest one of the sort ever issued by a college society.
The last preceding Psi U catalogue was printed in
March, 1864, by Baker %l Godwin of New York, and
comprised 207 pages. The arrangement of the follow-
ing list of chapters corresponds to that in the case of
Delta Phi :

1. Theta; Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. ; 1833 ; 275.

2. Delta ; New York University, N. Y. City ; 1836 ; 200.

3. Beta; Yale College, New Havett, Conn.; 1838 ; 750.

4. Sigma; Brown University, Providence, R, I. ; 1840; 180.

5. Gamma ; Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. ; 1841 ;,36o,

6. Zeta; Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. ; 1842 ; 340.

7. Lambda ; Columbia College, N. Y.'City ; 1842 ; 220.

8. Kappa ; Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. ; 1842; 270.

9. Psi; Hamilton College, Clinton: N. Y. ; 1843 ; 150.

10. Xi; Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. ; 1843; 295.
ir. Alpha; Haryard College, Cambridge, Mass. ; 1850; 105.

THE SO CIE TV S YSTEM. 1 1 3

12. Upsilon ; Rochester University, Rochester, N. Y. ; 1858 ; 100.

13. Iota; Kenyon College, Gambier, O. ; i860; 64.

14. Phi ; Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich.; 1865 ; 75.

15. Omega; Chicago University, Chicago, 111. ; 1869 ; 16.

The Theta chapter was suspended for a year or two
preceding 1865, when it was revived, and the Delta
chapter has also been once or twice near to death's
door, while the Alpha chapter, killed by general edict of
the Harvard faculty in 1857, was revived again in the
class of '71. Psi U therefore possesses the distinction
— which neither of its rivals, and probably no other
similar extended fraternity whatever, can boast of — of
being burdened with no dead chapters. Its total mem-
bership, as detailed above, foots up 3400 names, as
against 2750 exhibited in the catalogue of 1864.

The DKE catalogue, " apud Phi editum, fraternitatis
anno XXVII.," was printed by Tuttle, Morehouse &
Taylor, and comprises a little less than 300 pages. Its
only ornament is the circular, steel-plate poster before
described, which serves as a frontispiece. Aside from
a rather improved typography, it is the exact counter-
part of the catalogue of 1867, — which was printed by
Thomas, Howard & Johnson of Buffalo, N. Y., and
comprised 259 pages, — except that the latter exhibited
the society emblems printed in colors upon the title-
page. The last preceding catalogue, printed in 1858,
by J. H. Benham, had an "allegorical" steel-engraved
frontispiece. The arrangement of the following list of
chapters corresponds with that before employed :

1. Phi ; Yale College, New Haven, Conn. ; 1855 ; 746.

2. *Zeta; Princeton College, Princeton, N. J.; 1845 (*d- 1857); 69.

3. Theta; Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. ; 1845 ; 260.

4. Xi; Colby University, Waterville, Me, ; 1845; 218.

5. Sigma; Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. ; 1846 ; 344.

6. *Gamma ; Nashville Univ., Nashville, Tenn.; 1847 (*d- '61); 66.

7. *Psi ; Alabama Univ., Tuscaloosa, Ala. ; 1847 (*d. 1857) ; 82.

114 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

8. Upsilon ; T3rovvn University, Providence, R. I. ; 1850 ; 144.

9. *Beta; Univ. No. Carol'a, Chapel Hill, N.C.; 1851 (*d.'62); 120.

10. Chi; University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. ; 1851 ; 168.

1 1. *Delta ; Coll. of So. Carolina, Columbia, S. C; 1852 (*d.'6i);90.

12. Kappa ; Miami University, Oxford, O. ; 1852 ; 125.

13. Eta; University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. ; 1852; 172.

14. Alpha ; Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. ; 1852 ; 66.

15. *Omega; Oakland College, Oakland, Miss.; 1852 (*d. 1861); 77.

16. Lambda ; Kenyon College, Gambier, O. ; 1852 ; 135.

17. Pi ; Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. ; 1853 '■> 247-

18. *Iota ; Kentucky Mil. Inst, Frankfort, Ky.; 1854 (*d. i860); 35.

19. Alpha (prime) ; Middlebury Coll., Middlebury,Vt.; 1855 ; 100.

20. Omicron ; Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. ; 1855 ; 179.

21. Epsilon ; Williams College, Williamgtown, Mass. ; 1855; 102.

22. Nu; New York City-College, N. Y. City; 1856; 155.

23. Tau ; Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. ; 1856; in.

24. Mu ; Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y. ; 1856; 133.

25. Rho ; Lafayette College, Easton, Penn. ; 1856; 100.

26. Beta-Phi; Rochester University, Rochester, N. Y. ; 1856; 96.

27. *Theta-Chi;UnionColl.,Schenectady, N.Y.; i857(*d.'69); 100.

28. Kappa-Psi ; Cumberland Univ., Lebanon, Tenn, ; 1857 ; 92.

29. *Zeta (prime); Centenary Coll., Jackson, La.; 1857 (*d. '62); 46.

30. *AlphaDelta; Jefferson Coll.,Canonsb'g, Pa.; 1858 (*d.'65); 38.

31. *Tau-Delta; UnionUniv., Murfreesb'o,Tenn.; i860 (*d, '61); 11.

32. *Kappa-Phi ; TroyUniversity, Troy, N.Y. ; 1861 (*d. 1862) ; 23.

33. Phi-Chi; Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J.; 1861 ; 57.

34. Psi-Phi ; Asbury University, Greencastle, Ind. ; 1866; 40.

35. Gamma-Phi ; Wesleyan Univ., Middletown, Conn. ; 1867 ; 61.

36. Psi-Omega ; Rensselaer Polytech. Inst., Troy, N.Y. ; 1868; 25.

37. Beta-Chi ; Western Reserve College, Hudson,. O. ; 1868; 23.

38. Eta-Alpha; Washington-Lee Univ., Lexington, Va.; 1868; 55.

39. Delta-Chi; Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. ; 1869; 16.

40. Delta (prime); Chicago University, Chicago, 111.; 1870 ; 23.

The total membership of DKE thus appears to be
about 4750. as against 3800 in 1867, and 2000 in
1858. At the latter date it possessed 29 chapters, as
against its present 40, though it will be noticed that a
dozen of these are dead. The war stopped most of the
Southern chapters, and interrupted one or two which
were revived at its close. The Alpha-Delta chapter had

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. I15

its charter withdrawn by order of the fraternity. The
Zeta was killed by the general decree- of the Princeton
faculty in 1857. The same year, the similar decree of
the Harvard faculty put the Alpha chapter under the
ban, but it has nevertheless continued to exist in secret,
as a sophomore club, and its delegates have always been
recognized at the annual conventions, though its mem-
bers do not, while at Cambridge, wear the society badge,
nor have their names printed in the society catalogue.

Delta Phi also secretly kept up its existence at Har-
vard until 1865, when the organization now known as
the " A. D. Club "—to which most of the DKE Soph-
omore are admitted in junior year — was established
upon its ruins. Of course these " new Alpha Deltas,"
as Tom Hughes calls them in his sketch, are not recog-
nized by the fraternity, and themselves make no pre-
tence of being connected with it. The names of the
Harvard men who belonged to Delta Phi after the sup-
pression were not inserted in the catalogue of i860, but
appeared in the catalogue of 1870, as their classes had
then all safely graduated, — the last one, as before re-
marked, being that of '65. The Psi U catalogue con-
tains the names of no Harvard men later than the class
of '57, because the society then gave up the ghost, in
obedience to the faculty's edict, and the class in which
it was recently reestablished has not yet graduated.
The names of graduated members will appear in future
catalogues, however. The DKE catalogue contains the
names of no Harvard men belonging to it after the sup-
pression, because the club became too informal and dis-
organized to keep any records or lists of its members.
Latterly the chapter has approached somewhat to a
formal organization, and probably the names of recently
graduated members will appear in the next catalogue.
Indeed, it is not improbable that in the course of a few

Il6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

years the " Greek letter societies " may be allowed to
exist as openly at Harvard as at most other colleges,
since, under the more liberal administration recently
introduced there, their existence is more than winked at
already.

A comparison of the list shows the three societies
existing as rivals in ten colleges outside of Yale, name-
ly: Amherst, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth, Hamilton,
Kenyon, Michigan, Rochester, Union, and Wesleyan*
Delta Phi and DKE in addition are rivals at Cornell,
Miami, N. Y. City - College, Western Reserve, and
Williams ; and were formerly at Alabama and Cumber-
land ; while Psi U and DKE in addition are rivals at
Chicago, Harvard, and N. Y. University. The Yale
chapter of each society is its largest, though not, except
in the case of DKE, its most important or controlHng
one. The parent chapter of Psi U is its weakest, and
' that of Delta Phi is by no means its best, and no one
chapter is allowed any preponderance of influence in
either fraternity ; but the original DKE is so much
superior to any one of its many branches that it still
exercises its parental control over them all, and while
nominally deferring to their wishes, retains in itself the
chief executive power. At Yale the real rivalry for the
first place is between this society and Psi U, but at
almost all the other colleges where the three exist DKE
holds the lowest rank. There are of course many other
local and chaptered societies in other colleges which
dispute the ground with these three ; and many which
once existed have either wholly, or in the case of par-
ticular chapters, become absorbed in them. Thus, the
lota chapter of a western college society called " Beta
Theta Pi " was changed into the Phi of Psi U at Mich-
igan, and the Beta chapter of the same society at
Western Reserve became the Beta-Chi of DKE. Not

THE SO CIE TY S YSTEM. ■ 117

unlikely the society may have been the source of some
Delta Phi chapter also, and perhaps some of its
branches still exist as rivals of the two last mentioned
societies. On the other hand, none of the chapters of
these three societies have ever deserted from them, or
attempted to reorganize under another standard.

An examination of the three catalogues brings to light
a good many more or less notable names. There are
college professors and tutors, doctors of divinity and of
medicine, judges, lawyers and reverends, generals, con-
gressmen and honorables, almost without number, who
formerly sported the badges of these societies. Among
Yale Delta Phi men may be mentioned : Rev. Dr. J. P.
Thompson of 'zZ, Prevost C. J. Stille and Prof. J. D.
Whitney of '39, D. G. Mitchell and B. G. Northrop of
'41 [the names of Gen. W. T. S. Barry of Mississippi,
Maunsell B. Field of New York, and several others, are
included in the Delta Phi list of '41, though they revolted
from that society and were among the founders of Psi
U], W. L. Kingsley of '43, editor oi \h^ New. Englajtder,
Gen. Dick Taylor of '45, H. T. Blake of '48, founder of
the Wooden Spoon, Prof. D. C. Gilman of '52, G, W.
Smalley of '53, G. M. Towle of '61, and others. Alfred
B. Street belonged to the Hamilton chapter ; Gov. Den-
nison of Ohio and U. S. Senator Pugh to the Miami ;
Horace Maynard of Tennessee and Rev. R. S, Storrs,
Jr., of Brooklyn to the Amherst ; Senator Jenckes, the
advocate of civil service reform, and Rev. Dr. Samson,
president of Columbia College, to the Brunonian ; James
Russell Lowell, Rev. E. E Hale, Rev. O. B. Frothing-
ham, and F. B. Sanborn of the Springfield Republican^
to the Harvard ; Rev. Dr. Hale, president of Hobart
College, to the Geneva ; Gov. Goodwin of New Hamp-
shire to the Bowdoin ; Manton M. Marble of the N. Y.
World to the Rochester ; Prof. A. W- Perry to the Wil-

Il8 • FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

Hams ; Russell Sturgis, Jr._, to the Manhattan ; Ngan
Yoong Kiung of Shanghai, and Oronhyatehka of Can-
ada, to the Kenyon. Chief Justice Chase, Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer, Prof. Elias Loomis,
and Cassius M. Clay, are among the honorary members
of this society.

Taking up the Psi U catalogue, among the Yale
members may be noticed : Rev. H. M.. Dexter of '40,
editor of the Boston Congregatio?ialist, Henry Stevens of
'43, F. S. A., Senator O. S. Ferry of '44, Col. E. G.
Parker of '47, Dvvight Foster of '48, attorney general of
Massachusetts, C. G. Came of '49, editor of the Boston
Journal, Champion Bissell of '50, publisher of the
American (Whig) Review, Andrew D. White of '53, pres-
ident of Cornell University, Chauncey M. Depew of '56,
N. Y. secretary of state, A. Van Name of '58, college
Hbrarian, Engene Schuyler of '59, U. S. Consul at
Moscow, and Wilbur R. Bacon of '65, Yale's most
famous oarsman. At Union, are found Mayor Alexan-
der A. H. Rice of Boston, Frederick W. Seward, assistant
secretary of state, and A. C. Davis, Kansas attorney
general ; at N. Y. University, George W. Schuyler,
State treasurer, and William Allen Butler ; at Brown,
Lieut. Gov. Arnold of Rhode Island ; at Amherst,
Galusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania, E. M. Wright, Mass.
secretary of state (and, as honorary members, John G.
Saxe, E. P. Whipple and Dr. J. G. Holland) ; at Dart-
mouth, Amos T. Akerman, U. S. attorney general, and
W. H. Bartlett, judge of the supreme court of New Hamp-
shire ; at Hamilton, Gov. J. R. Hawley of Connecticut
and C. D. Warner of the Hartford Courant; at Harvard,
Profs. Goodwin and Gurney; and at Kenyon, James
Kent Stone, " the youngest college president."

Among DKE men at Yale may be noticed : Charlton
T. Lewis of '53, editor of the N. Y. Evening Post, Maj.

THE SO CIE TV S YSTEM. 1 1 9

Gen. J. W. Swayne of '56, Brig. Gen. J. T. Croxton and
Prof. Cyrus Northrop of '57, Dr. D. G. Brinton of '58,
Joseph W. Shipley and Edward R. Sill, of '61^ and
Dorsey Gardner of '64 ; at Colby University, J. H.
Drummond, attorney general of Maine; at Amherst,
Gen. Francis A. Walker, of the statistical and census
bureau at Washington ; at Harvard, John Quincy
Adams, Jr., Edward S. Rand, Jr., and Howard M.
Ticknor. DKE's best-known men — Rear Admiral Foote,
General Burnside, Vice President Colfax, Bayard Taylor,
Nathaniel P. Banks, John R. Thompson — are all^honor-
ary members, elected as such on account of their noto-
riety. Though this society possesses the largest mem-
bership, the number of names in its catalogue that are
even locally well-known is much smaller than is the
case either with Delta Phi or Psi U.

Each society holds every year a general convention of
all its chapters, which as a rule are each represented by
two or three delegates. The exercises usually consist in
the delivery of an oration and poem, by graduate — and,
if possible, distinguished — members of the society, to
which the public are admitted ; and the transaction of
business by the delegates, in private. The convention
lasts for two days and winds up with a supper. It is
held with each chapter in succession, except the very
distant or the weakest ones. The presiding officer of the
DKE convention is always a. Yale man ; in the case of
the other societies, a member of the chapter with which
the convention is held. It has been mentioned in the
first chapter that at all other colleges except Dartmouth
the societies draw their members from all the four
classes. The exception at Harvard has been noticed,
and at some of the other colleges also the freshman and
sophomore members are not allowed to display their
badges, — except when absent from the university town.

120 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

— nor to have their names printed with the others in the
public lists. When a Freshman or Sophomore, who
has become a member of one of the societies at some
other college, enters Yale, he does not become an active
member of the chapter until the time when the society-
is given into the hands of his own class. Previous to
this his name is not published, in the list of members,
neither is he expected to display his badge, nor to attend
the society meetings unless specially invited by upper-
class men. Most of the other chapters are more secret
than those at Yale. At some colleges the songs are
never sung outside the hall, neither are the places and
times of meeting generally known, nor the societies in
any way mentioned to the uninitiated. A fancy which
Yale men sometimes have for displaying the splendors
qf their society halls to their lady friends is peculiarly
horrifying to the other chapters. Not that the practice
is much in vogue, but the few cases of it which occur
are winked at by the societies, on the theory that the
dear creatures comprehend too little of the mysteries
which they behold to make any damaging revelations,
even were they so inclined. Every chapter gladly enter-
tains the representatives of every other chapter, when-
ever it chances upon them ; but though Yale members
always accord welcome to the others, they are not always
anxious to claim it in return, and sometimes when in
the neighborhood of other colleges are inclined to fight
shy of their brethren there resident. Yale DKE men
in many cases do not wear their badges in the vicinity
of certain of their chapters, of the extended numbers
of which they are heartily ashamed. A report, which
was perhaps meant for a joke, used to prevail about col-
lege to the effect that DKE raised some of the money
to pay for its hall by selling charters to all applicants
who would give fifty dollars apiece for them. However

THE SOCIE rV SYSTEM. 1 2 1

this may be, it is certain that the great number of its
chapters is the chief source of its weakness as a fra-
ternity. In the case of Psi U, also, were the first two
and last two stricken from its list of fifteen chapters, its
power and influence would be nearly doubled. A Yale
Psi U man likewise, occasionally conceals his badge in
localities where the wearing it does not confer much
honor, and exposes him to the danger of being
" brother-ed" — a word which in his view would hardly
change in significance by the omission of its second
letter. There is very little sentiment wasted upon one
another by the Yale members of these societies, yet
their friendship is probably not weakened by its omis-
sion.

The elections to the junior societies are given out to
the Sophomores upon Tuesday evening, and the initia-
tions are held two weeks and a half later, upon the
evening of the Friday which precedes Presentation Day.
The sophomore-society initiations always occur before
this, — usually on the preceding Wednesday or Friday,
— and in the interval all the Sophomores seem to be
neutrals, for all alike are badgeless. The mode of
giving out elections is the same as that of the sopho-
more societies, already described, but as there are only
two classes, instead of three, to engage in the work,
everything is more orderly and respectable. The elec-
tions are offered and congratulations exchanged, in a
sober and gentlemanly way, before any movement is
made toward the eatables. There are rarely any dis-
plays of greediness or rowdyism. There is less of
noise and excessive drinking. But Sophomores are apt
to get together after receiving their elections and " cele-
brate " the event, much after the manner of the year
before. Election cards, too, are distributed ; the initia-
tion fee of fifteen to twent)'-five dollars is collected by

12 2 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

one of their own number ; and the members are in-
dividually summoned in writing to be present at a
particular college room at a certain hour on the evening
of initiation ; — all after the old custom. This time,
however, the members elect are conducted to the hall
in a body, and initiated without perceptible uproar.
It is generally understood in advance among them that
the ceremony is only a formal one, yet most men prob-
ably feel a trifle nervous about the matter, up to the
moment when the mystery is revealed to them. Then
come the oration and poem and display of theatricals,
and finally the supper. Like the old Sigma Phi initia-
tion suppers, this used on some former occasions to be
served in a hotel dining-room, instead of in the society
hall as now. The Psi U initiation exercises generally
close the earliest, at about two o'clock ; the DKE the
latest, at about daybreak. The badges, engraved with
the new members' names, etc., are provided in advance
by the society, — the initiation fees covering the cost of
them, — and are " swung out " next day. The same is
true in the sophomore societies.

The regular meetings are held every Tuesday even-
ing, beginning at nine or ten and ending at midnight
or later. In old times the hour of meeting was publicly
announced, by posting upon the trees in the college
yard large cards upon which were the society vignette
and a printed or written numeral which signified the
hour of meeting. This custom was also observed by
the sophomore and even the freshman societies. The
exercises are of a more varied character than those of
the societies of the two preceding years, and comprise
features from both of them. There is less formality
about the literary part of them than in freshman year,
•and less prominence to their "social " features than in
the sophomore societies. There are music and dancing

THE SO CIE TV S VS TEAL 1 2 3

as well as singing, and of course smoking, and card
playing and occasional suppers. At the close of their
meetings, each society marches in a body to the college
yard, singing its songs on the way, and after giving
forth some additional strains from a particular ren-
dezvous therein, disbands. Psi U's station is in front of
the Lyceum building, where, just before disbanding, it
always ends up its final song, to the tune of ''In a few
days," with the chorus, " Hurrah ! 'rah ! 'rah ! 'rah !
Psi U ! Psi U !— Hurrah ! 'rah ! 'rah ! 'rah ! Psi Up-
si/^///" DKE always marches through Trumbull Gal-
lery, and the south entry of North College, in front of
which, after singing an additional song or two, it dis-
bands with the cheer : " Hurrali ! 'rah ! 'rah ! D ! K ! E !"
One of its outdoor choruses to the tune of " All on a
summer's day," — very popular in the society during
1867-8, — was the best marching song known at the time
in college. It closed with a " Slap ! bang ! here we are
again, in jolly DKE." Delta Phi's most characteristic
melody was to the tune of the " Old oaken bucket," —
but of late years this society has seldom sung any of
its songs in public. DKE on its homeward march
sometimes finds that the doors of North College have
been barred against it by neutrals or under-class men,
and is then obliged to pass around instead of through
the building before giving its final cheer. The foregoing
remarks, like the similar ones concerning the singing of
sophomore societies, though expressed in the present,
relate to the past, as the societies, obeying the edict of
the faculty, sing no more, and disperse without ceremony
of any sort.

The attendance upon the meetings is more regular
than in the case of the sophomore societies. Some of
the Seniors are almost always present, and on special
occasions nearly all of them attend, and perhaps take

124 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

part in the exercises. These occasions, aside from
initiation night, are when the representatives of other
chapters are present in force, in response to a regular
invitation. At such times the society of course tries to
appear at its best, and the festivities are often prolonged
until nearly daybreak. Perhaps the entire assembly of
seventy-five or more, march through the streets in pro-
cession, singing their society songs before the young
ladies' boarding schools, by way of serenade, or shout-
ing them forth beneath the college windows. Next
morning, too, very likely the guests may be invited to
attend chapel prayers, and be seated together in the
galleries, where the best looking of them may act as
"electioneering arguments" upon the unpledged under-
class men who gaze up from below. Outside members
who chance to visit town without formal invitation are
likewise sure of good treatment at the hands of Yale
men. Old graduates come more frequently to the hall
than in the case of the under-class societies, though
generally only by special invitation of the society or an
active member of it. The night before Commencement
is the time when many of them meet together there, to
talk over the old experiences and perhaps partake of
some refreshments provided for the occasion.

The hall of Delta Phi is in the upper story of the
block at the south-west corner of Chapel and State
streets, opposite the building wherein the Sigma Eps
hall used to be. It was newly fitted up in 1867, and
was said at that time to be the finest lodge room
possessed by any chapter of the fraternity. As the
Williams chapter has since then erected a $10,000 hall
of its own, this can be no longer true, though the hall is
undoubtedly a good one. It is protected without by a
ponderous iron door, and current report adds a Hilliard
table to its other inner attractions. The other two

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 125

societies possess halls of their own. That of Psi U is
on High street, a few steps from the north-west corner
of the college yard. It was taken possession of on the
first of May, 1870, having been about seven months in
process of erection. It has a front of 26 feet, a depth
of 66 feet, is about 40 feet high, and stands upon a lot
whose dimensions are 40 by 70 feet. The material
of the front is red pressed brick, inlaid with ornamental
work in black, — one pattern running across just above
the freestone foundation, another at the top of the
entrance way, and a third just below the cornice of the
roof. This is a Mansard, slated, and surmounted by an
ornamental iron railing, which connects and partly con-
ceals the two short chimneys which project at its ex-
tremities. Above the entrance is an arched window,
the keystone of which bears the chapter letter, "j5."
The entrance and the arch above it make a slight pro-
jection from the front, and so a gable above the arch
breaks the uniformity of the roof. The roof cornices
and the massive doorway are of light Nova Scotia stone,
and freestone is the material of the half-dozen steps
which lead up to it. In relief,' upon the inner slab
which surmounts the doors, are the letters, " 'K T."
The doors themselves are of solid oak, though these will
doubtless in time give place to iron ones. On the south
side of the building, near its front, is a second arched
window, covered like the ornamental one in front with a
brown lattice-blind. There are two other square win-
dows in the rear, protected by close black shutters.
There is also a rear entrance to the basement, and two
full-length basement windows, as well as half-a-dozen
scuttle-windows upon either side, all of which are pro-
tected by iron bars. The other windows mentioned are
all in the second story, and in the roof is a large sky-
light of thick, ground glass, which looks in upon the main

126 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

theater or exhibition hall. The usual assembly room is
on the lower floor, and there are various small apart-
ments above and below. Ventilation is secured by
double walls and other special appliances, and the
building is heated by furnace, supplied with water, and
lighted by gas. David R. Brown was the architect ; the
masonry was superintended by Lyman Treat, and the
carpentry by William Judd. The whole property must
have cost some $15,000, and is probably not yet more
than two-thirds paid for. For a year or more before the
work was begun, the society owned the stucco house next
beside the Divinity College on College street, and in-
tended to refit and occupy it for its own uses, but finally
decided to build the present hall instead. Previous to
1 this, Psi U had occupied for more than a quarter of a
century a hall in Townsend's Block, corner of Chapel
and College streets, where, since 1864, the hall of Beta
Xi had been, close beside it. This society, since Psi
U's departure, has added the vacated hall to its own,
and now controls the entire ujDper floor of the block.
Psi U's first lodge room was identical as to locality
with the present one of Delta Phi. At Middletown, the
society is said to be constructing a $10,000 freestone
hall of its own, upon a corner of the college grounds ;
and at Amherst it holds a long lease on the two upper
stories of the large block containing its hall, and rents
the rooms, which surround the hall, only as lodgings for
Psi U students. The DKE hall is on York street, near
the corner of Elm. It was built in 1861, chiefly through
the instrumentality of Henry Holt of '62, who advanced
the money for the work. This lot on which the build-
ing stands perhaps measures 30 by 60 feet, and the
hall itself has a front of 24 feet 6 inches, a depth of
45 feet, and is perhaps 35 feet in hight. Its material
is common brick, and the only ornamental work — aside

THE SOCIE TV SYSTEM. 1 2 7

from the trimmings in front, made of wood in imitation
of stone — is the slab of brown sandstone above the
entrance whereon are carved the letters, " J. K. E."
The door at the entrance is of iron, and just above it is
the chapter letter, " (Ik" There are no windows, save
the skylights in the flat, tin roof, from the edges of
which project several ventilators and short chimneys.
Inside, the building is of course divided into two stories
and several different apartments. Seen from without,
the hall has an attractively mysterious look to an under-
class man, though its appearance is much inferior to
that of the Psi U structure. The present value of the
property is probably about $8000, and the payment of
$1500, instead of the annual ground rent hitherto
claimed by the owner, is all that is now needed to vest
the title wholly in the society.

The holding of real estate by these societies is ren-
dered possible by the organization of " trust associa-
tions," composed of resident graduate members, who
fulfil the duties of trustees, and receive no com.pensation
for their services. Psi U was incorporated by the Con-
necticut Legislature, at its May session of 1862, when
"James H. Trumbull [of '42, Conn. Sec. of State],
Henry E. Pardee [of '56], and Simeon E. Baldwin [of
'61], with all such other persons as might be from time
to time associated with them, together with their suc-
cessors," were " constituted a body politic and corporate,
by the name of the 'Trumbull Trust Association,' for
the sole purpose of the intellectual and moral improve-
ment and culture of its members ; and by said name"
were to " have perpetual succession and be capable in
law to purchase, receive, hold and convey real and
personal estate" — not exceeding a certain amount in
value ; " to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded,
defend and be defended," and so forth. The "Win-

128 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

throp Trust Association," incorporated three years later
and consisting of Edward I. Sanford of '47, Cyrus
Northrop of '57, Robert S. Ives of '64, Daniel C. Chap-
man and George C. Holt of %(i, with their associates,
and so on, is the legal style of DKE. It is named in
honor of the most famous member of the society, Theo-
dore Winthrop of '48. It is supposed that Delta Phi
is as yet unincorporated.

Upon the junior societies at Yale, as at present organ-
ized, hinges the entire system of college politics. The elec-
tion of the nine " Cochleaureati," or members of the
Wooden Spoon Committee, and the five Editors of theYale
Literary Magazine^ which election is held during this year?
is the great thing about which they center, though they
enter into and effect to some extent the previous minor
elections. It was formerly the custom for each of the
three societies, whose combined membership always
formed a clear majority of the junior class, to nominate
three of the candidates for the Spoon Committee and agree
to support the nominees of the others. Each society
thus obtained an equal share of the committee. But, as
a majority of the nine choose the Spoon Man, a second
coalition between two of the societies against the third
was necessary to decide the matter, as well as to share
the five editors between them by some regular agree-
ment. The manner of pledging Freshmen to these soci-
eties has been already noted in the description of those
of sophomore year. When the class of '69 entered col-
lege, the upper-class politicians had already prepared for
them a "coalition," which was to decide their junior year
elections. It was between Delta Phi and Psi U, against
DKE. Each society was as usual to have three Cochs,
but Psi U was to have the Spoon Man and three Editors,
while Delta Phi was to have two Editors and the chair-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. I29

man of the editorial board. As soon as the nucleus of
each society's pledged Freshmen was of respectable
size, this coalition was ratified, and papers were signed
in duplicate whereby each Freshman bound himself to
faithfully observe these and other minor specifications,
upon the arrival of his junior year. I^ach party to the
coalition preserved one set of the papers, and every
Freshman who thereafter pledged to either society was
obliged to agree to support the coalition also. As many
other Freshmen as possible were also " pledged to the
coalition," being induced to take this step in the belief
that it would better their chances of a pledge to one or
the other of the societies composing it. This was not
considered as preventing them from accepting a pledge
to DKE if one were offered, but simply as binding them
to vote against the DKE candidates until themselves
regularly pledged to that society. Before the end of the
first term of freshman year the political machine was in
working order. The coalition held meetings and nomi-
nated candidates for the freshman-society offices ; DKE
did the same ; and the two opposing factions then fought
it out. The neutrals of each society, though outnum-
bering each of the parties, nominated no third candi-
date of their own, and made no effective opposition.
They were without " leaders," or common interest to
bind them together, and of course were unlikely to make
an open fight against societies to which they hoped each
day to be pledged. Neither did the neutrals know of
the formality with which each party nominated its can-
didates in advance ; they only observed that their presi-
dents and other high officers were sure to be " pledged
men," and the rival candidates the representatives of
opposite political factions ; and so they sided with one
or the other of them, as caprice or interest dictated.
In Delta Kap there was only one party, for after the

tSO FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

first the coalition had things all its own way, and DKE
gave up the fight. It was, however, allowed one place
on the Initiation committee. Sigma Eps was more
evenly divided, and each election was closely contested.
The fight over the campaign offices was especially fierce,
and the expedients then resorted to for effecting the
result have been described in the chapter on Freshman
Societies. DKE was finally victorious, but in turn gave
the coalition one member of the Initiation committee.
In Gamma Nu there was but little chance for politics.

Outside the freshman societies, the first opportunity
for displaying their power was afforded by the election
of the Annual Jubilee committee. The " ticket" was
made up by a Delta Kap politician, who divided it
equally between the pledged men of the three junior
societies ; but after the election it was found on exami-
nation to represent the freshman societies in the pro-
portion of Delta Kap 6, Sigma Eps 3, and Gamma Nu
none. The latter society therefore resolved not to par-
ticipate in the supper, but, one of the committee after-
wards withdrawing from college, the class elected a
Gamma Nu man in place of him, and all ended happily.
No men in the class of '69 were pledged to the sopho-
more society Theta Psi, but its thirty elections in that
class were conferred upon the coalition men pledged to
Psi U and Delta Phi, in the proportion of two of the
former to one of the latter. Among these Delta Phi
men was the politician just mentioned, who, as campaign
president of Delta Kap, had conceived such a hatred of
Gamma Nu, that he vowed to debar its members from
the upper-class societies w^hich he himself might belong
to. As Delta Phi was accustomed to depend upon
Gamma Nu for its best men, it did not approve this
decision of its representative, and threatened not to
elect him if he persisted in his course. He, however,

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 13 1

was obstinate, and Theta Psi was through him prevented
from electing any Gamma Nu men in '70. In Delta
Phi there was a long contest over the '69 elections, one
faction favoring this man and his partisans, the other
his opponents. By various compromises, about two
thirds of the pledged men were finally elected, but the
politician and his chief opponent, were not among them.
On the Tuesday evening following the initiation, the
meeting was adjourned early, on account of the Wooden
Spoon Exhibition, and while their Gamma Nu opponents
were absent the partisans of the politician reassembled,
elected and initiated him. When the Gamma Nu mem-
bers learned of the facts, five out of the seven sent in
their resignations to the society, and took off their Delta
Phi badges. In the course of the next term they be-
came members of DKE. The originator of the
trouble withdrew from college at the close of sophomore
year. His chief opponent had in the meantime joined
Psi U, and the few pledged men whom Psi U had re-
jected had been taken into Delta Phi. The opening of
junior year found the two societies at swords' points..
The paper coalition between them was seen to be but a
rope of sand, and was soon formally repudiated. As the
time of the great election dfew near, an arrangement
was proposed whereby Psi U and DKE were each to
have four Cochs and two Editors, and Delta Phi one of
each ; but this being rejected by the latter, similar
terms were offered to an association of neutrals, and
accepted by them, and the "ticket" as thus made up
was finally elected by the class, — Psi U according to
agreement afterwards taking the Spoon Man and DKE
the chairman of the editorial board. The Delta Phi
men attended the class meeting, and voted for the three
Cochs and two Editors whom they had — without hope
of success — nominated in the usual way from among
their own number.

132 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

For some years preceding the revolt, Delta Phi had
been held in less repute than the other two societies?
but had yet been treated by them as a political equal.
Since then, it has altogether degenerated — having been
obliged, in 1869, through fear of dissolution, to give
elections to Freshmen as well as Sophomores, and trans-
form itself into a mixed sophomore-and-junior society —
and is no longer of any political or social importance.
The rumor has been current of late that the fraternity
is about to abolish its Yale chapter ; and it would act
wisely in doing so, for though it has other branches
which, absolutely, are no better than this, yet there is
probably no other college in which the relative position
of Delta Phi is so low as at Yale. On the other hand,
some ardent spirits profess to believe that its present
decline is only temporary, and that in the future it will
be able to regain its former importance in the college.

Agreements not to pledge or electioneer Freshmen
have at times been entered into by these societies. The
last was that made in the class of '70, whose members
were not to be approached upon the subject of junior
societies before a certain hour of th-e first day of Febru-
ary, 1868, — in the second term of their sophomore year.
As a necessary tender to this agreement, the two soph-
omore societies were neither to pledge nor electioneer nor
accost the Freshmen in any way until the evening which
both should unite upon for the giving out of elections.
At eight o'clock of the appointed evening they could
address any Freshman in these words : " I offer you a
pledge to Theta Psi [or Beta Xi]. Do you accept .'"'
No argument or explanation of any kind was to be
allowed. This programme was accordingly carried out,
and two or three hours after the men were pledged the
societies marched around and gave out elections in the
usual way. Spite of the pledge, " the two crowds" were

I

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 133

for all practical purposes "packed" in advance. Lack-
ing but a day or two of the appointed first of February,
the junior society agreement was openly broken, — DKE
and Psi U each charging the other with its violation.
Forthwith most of the Theta Psi men were pledged to
Psi U, and the members of Beta Xi to DKE, — though
the reverse was true in some cases, — and each society
completed its number from among the neutrals. Neither
society of course gained anything in the class of '70 by
anticipating by a few hours the appointed time of pledg-
ing them. But the agreements as to the junior and
sophomore societies were to be perpetual ; and the
object held in view by the society which broke the
pledge was to prevent its going into effect in future
classes; The '71 Freshmen were forthwith electioneered
and pledged, and, spite of one or two attempts to do
away with the practice, things have since gone on after
the old fashion, though in the case of '74, Psi U and
DKE agreed to offer no pledges before the third term ;
— Delta Phi's consent not being thought worth gaining.
It is exceedingly difficult to keep such an agreement.
Without any encouragement from upper-class men,
cliques will be formed and crowds be packed in the inter-
est of some particular society. When a society sees
"the best men" plainly drifting away from it, it is apt to
suspect treachery, raise a cry of foul-play, throw up the
pledge, and fall to work to better its fortunes. The
agreement, furthermore, does not offer equal advantages ;
relatively, the best society gains at the expense of the
poorest. When a man has been a year and a Jialf in
college he comprehends the drift of things, sees the rel-
ative positions of the societies, and can make his choice
wisely. But, as a Freshman, the chance of joining
any upper-class society seems to him so desirable that
he often takes up with the first one offered him. Thus,

134 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

in an indiscriminate scramble among the Freshmen, an
inferior society is likely to do better, than when a year
later it seeks for recruits among the wily Sophomores.
The cases are exceptional in which there is much elec-
tioneering for the upper-class societies. Occasionally a
" big man" may hesitate between two societies, and be
earnestly argued with by their representatives ; but, as a
rule, a man makes up his mind for himself which crowd
he will go with if he can, and accepts an offered pledge
to it with few words. When any arguments are offered
for a society, they are of course similar to those used in
behalf of the freshman societies, and relate to the
honors, social position, and so on, gained by its mem-
bers. Prize lists, however, are unknown after freshman
year.

There is more harmoniousness and good feeling in
the junior societies than in those of the two preceding
years, yet bitter enmities not unfrequently arise within
them. The bones of contention are not the society offi-
ces,— for the incumbents of them are chosen without
dispute, — but, as may be judged by the sketch of junior
politics in the class of '69, the positions upon the " ticket"
for Cochleaureati and Lit. Editors. These are balloted
for one at a time, and the order of nomination is known
outside, so that the candidates are spoken of throughout
the class as the first, second, or third Cochs or Editors,
of this or that society. It is expected that the first
Coch of one or the other society will be chosen Spoon
Man, and the first Editor, chairman of the editorial
board. What is known as a junior-society coalition is
not really made between the societies as such, but be-
tween the individual members of them. The societies
form a good medium through which to operate, but the
agreement is a purely personal one, after all. For ex-
ample, certain individuals, who belong to Psi U, and

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 135

certain other individuals, who belong to DKE, promise
to vote for one another's candidates in a certain class
meeting. A formal writing is accordingly prepared in
duplicate to which each individual party to the compact
puts his signature. A majority, who order that their
society accept a coalition, cannot force an opposing
minority into it, nor bind their votes in class meeting.
The compact " holds" just as many individuals as enter
into it, and no more. If the thirtieth man in a society
insists on voting in opposition to the twenty and nine
who are his comrades, there is no one who can say to
him, Nay. Of course, in practice, when a large major-
ity urge the adoption of a coalition, the minority are
prone to fall in with it, even though they may dislike to
do so ; but their action is voluntary, and they have- no
one but themselves to blame if they lack the independ-
ence to assert their own convictions. Let it be under-
stood, once for all, that the current talk of a man's soci-
ety binding his vote or opinion upon outside matters, is
nonsense, pure and simple.

Suppose a junior class of 115. Suppose two junior
societies of 30 men each. Suppose these 60 men agree
to elect a ticket made up from among their own number.
Suppose the separate thirties nominate half of it. Then, 16
votes will ensure a man a majority of the 115 cast in class
meeting. The disproportion is often greater than this.
In the class of '69, with 120 members, a bare half-dozen
nominating votes secured a man his election to a coch-
ship. Of course a coalition is not arranged and ratified
by the necessary number of individuals, without a vast
deal of wire-pulling, and log-rolling, and pipe-laying,
and the rest of it -, for all the separate and conflicting
interests have to be consulted and reconciled, and the
likely "men" held in view as well as the "measures."
This work takes up the time of the professed politicians.

136 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

But, supposing that all the details have been at length
satisfactorily arranged, and that the " nominations are
now in order " in the societies, we can see how the strife
has been narrowed down to very close quarters, and the
fidelity of a man's time-serving " friends " is put to the
crucial test. The general result is often to be guessed
at in advance with tolerable accuracy, for the contest is
not infrequently in regard to the order in which partic-
ular candidates shall be nominated, rather than to the
fact itself of nominating them : though usually there are
some unsuccessful candidates close upon the heels of the
last ones chosen. In general, there is more uncertainty
as to order in nominating the Cochs, more uncertainty
as to the men themselves in nominating the Editors.
However smoothly the elections may pass off, they
usually occasion more or less hard feeling; and the
" fence men " are certain to make enemies, whichever
way, on the arrival of the decisive moment, they finally
jump. Seniors announce the nominations from one
society hall to another almost before the nominating
meetings are adjourned, and they are discussed next
morning at every club breakfast table. The only other
elective honor of any account wherewith the society has
to do, is the position of delegate to the annual conven-
tion, for which there may be several aspirants. The
society also appoints a Senior as a member of the dele-
gation, and pays his expenses with the others.

The nomination of the candidates for class honors,
however, stirs up less of contention and bitterness than
the election of new members to the society. There are
fewer class elections given out than in sophomore year,
because the interval between the time the members were
pledged and the time they were elected was long enough
for them to decide upon what other classmates they
wished to have elected, and the society is not apt to

THE SO CJE TV S YSTEM. 137

refuse men thus recommended. In case there is such
refusal, a class election probably results, soon after the
new members are put in control. Perhaps a few may be
given out for the purpose of gaining sufficient men to
form an effective coalition. Perhaps. a man, proposed
before the class nominations are made, is at first
rejected by those who fear his vote may work to their
disadvantage, but elected when the danger is over.
Perhaps a class election may be given a new man who
enters college as a Junior. And, on the night of giving
out elections to the Sophomores, a few Juniors who have
been previously kept out may be allowed to slip in.
Similarly, a few such honorary elections may be con-
ferred on men in the senior class. Psi U, however,
makes very few class and honorary elections, and never
confers the latter upon members of the Scientific
School, as do the other societies. The bad feeling
which results from fighting over class elections, though
worse in kind, is naturally less in extent than that arising
when the new members are chosen from the class below.
Among the pledged men who are to be balloted for
there are generally factions, more or less clearly de-
fined, each of which has its friends and enemies among
the men who wield the ballot. Each wishes to be the
controlling power in the society at the time of the class
nominations, and so desires to keep out those likely to
injure its chances, or interfere against a projected
coalition. Aside from political considerations, too,
there are many private and personal reasons which
may make certain pledged men obnoxious to the rest,
and cause the latter to work against them. When to
these causes of confusion the private likes and dislikes
of the Juniors are added, enough conflicting interests
appear, to make the election meetings anything but har-
monious ones. The pledged men really have the power

138 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

in their own hands, and occasionally some are found
fearless enough to assert it, by agreeing together not
to accept elections to their society, unless some enemy
be left out or friend taken in, as the case may be. But
as a rule, men feel too doubtful as to their own chance
of election to risk it by any such defiance ; and so the
societies are usually spared the disgrace of being
directly dictated to by under-class men. The strife over
elections of course varies in different societies and dif-
ferent years ; sometimes being very bitter, sometimes
hardly displaying itself at all ; but, what with com-
promises and the gradual wearing away of the weaker
party's opposition, the full crowd is at last made up, of
essentially the same men who were pledged, and the
society in due time given good naturedly into their
hands.

As a natural result of their political_ aflfiliations, the
active members of these societies mention them to one
another with less reserve than is wont to be maintained
by sophomore- society men, and do not resent as im-
pertinent any reasonable questions which may be asked
concerning them. They are usually careful to say little
about them in the presence of neutrals, however, lest
they be thought indirectly to boast of their own implied
superiority. DKE men are often called " Deaks " by
the others, but as this word is somewhat akin to an
epithet it is not employed in their presence, nor do
other society men often use it before outsiders, unless
intimate with them. Similarly, in sophomore year, Beta
Xi men are called " Dead Beats," or simply " Beats," by
those of Theta Psi, in the presence of their own num-
ber ; and neutrals, among themselves, though less com-
monly, designate them in the same manner. In fresh-
man year, too, Gamma Nu men may be called Gamma
Nu-sters by the others, but the epithet is by no means a

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 139

common one. "Dickey E" and " Piecey U " are epi-
thets sometimes applied to the third-year societies by
the Seniors who belonged to them. Among Seniors,
too, junior society transactions are talked of about as
freely as the doings of the sophomore societies. A
party of friends who belonged to rival organizations will
"chaff" one another about them, and, in private of
course, join together in singing their songs. Never-
theless, these societies are thought much more of than
those of the two earlier years, and the affection for
them is far more lasting. It induces undergraduates to
give liberally of their money and labor for the erection
of costly halls, and prompts former members to help
them on, with generous subscriptions and friendly ad-
vice. A man's share in the ordinary expenses of a
junior society is no larger than in that of the year
before, — perhaps not as large ; his share in the extra-
ordinary expenses is unlimited. Suppose a new hall is
to be built : a subscription of $50 is very fair ; of $100,
generous ; of $200, munificent ; while $500 makes a man
a hero in society tradition ever after. Thus, these
society "bonds of affection," et cetera, are shown to
have a tangible cash value, and, even at Yale where
they are wont to be made light of, are sometimes re-
deemed if not in gold at least in lawful money. At
other colleges, where a man belongs to but one society,
and perhaps may be a member of it during his whole
academic course, his regard for it is naturally deeper
and more enduring than it could be were his allegiance
divided as at Yale. The graduates of the other chap-
ters hence take a livelier interest in their welfare. If a
new hall is to be built, or other extraordinary expenses
are to be incurred, the brunt of the burden falls upon
them. At Yale, it is the undergraduates who take the
initiative ; the aid of the old members, generous as it
often is, comes in only as a supplement to their work.

I40 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

The relative standing of the three societies has been
incidentally alluded to ; a few direct remarks in regard
to it may serve to close the chapter. Psi U, starting
at Yale when Delta Phi was broken up by internal feuds,
seems from the outset to have successfully disputed the
ground with it as a recognized equal, despite its in-
feriority to it in age and reputation. These two were
the important rivals until about the year 1862, when
DKE, in the eighteenth year of its age, by the erection
of a hall of its own, suddenly began to rise in college
repute, and claim recognition as a rival of Psi U, —
Delta Phi having been for some time on the wane, —
and ever since the class of '69 entered college the real
rivalry has been between those two societies. Since the
graduation of that class, indeed, Delta Phi has prac-
tically sunk out of sight in college esteem, and is called
a junior society only by courtesy. The material argu-
ment has all been on the side of DKE, and in view of
this it seems remarkable that Psi U, with little else to
back it save its traditional prestige, has maintained its
old position so well. If the lift which its hall gave
DKE be any index of the future, it seems likely that its
rival, at length possessed of a more attractive one, will
again take the lead in the race. Comparing the freshman
societies with these, it is easy to see a general tendency
in Sigma Eps men to choose DKE, Delta Kap men Psi
U, and Gamma Nu men Delta Phi ; though since the
catastrophe of 1868 the comparison in the latter case
no longer holds. Thus, the campaign president of
Sigma Eps is almost always a DKE pledged man, and
of Delta Kap a candidate for Psi U ; while formerly the
Gamma Nu president was quite as certain to be pledged
to Delta Phi. Even before the latter's fall, it was not
infrequently to be observed that a sneer would arise,
when a man was mentioned who had " gone to Delta

L

THE SOCIE TY SYSTEM. 1 4 1

Phi," which was only a little less pronounced than the
old freshman derision of " Gamma Nu men." Now-a-
days, hardly any one of any ability or social importance
can be induced to join Delta Phi, and membership in
it is thought to rather lower a man's dignity and self-
respect. Indeed, the name " Delta Phi man " is fast
becoming a synonym for " scrub," and " pill," and even
the neutrals regard its members with a sort of pitying
contempt. The sentiment concerning it is much like
that which used to prevail in regard to Diggers of senior
year : the average man " will go to one of the reputable
societies or to none at all." But these two societies no
one ever pretends to despise, however hostile he may
be to them. For the last few years DKE has taken a
good many more prizes and honors than its rival, and
about all of the prominent boating and base-ball men
have been among its members. Its men " work " more
for their society than do their rivals, and take greater
pains to display it. Psi U used to be called the " shawl
society," in the old days when the wearing of that gar-
ment was deemed to smack somewhat of aristocracy and
exclusiveness. Perhaps its place at Yale to-day cannot
be better described than by saying that it still attracts
most of the " shawl men " from every junior class. In
place of twenty, political or pecuniary exigencies now
require it to elect about thirty members, long time the
established number of the less exacting DKE. As
general college fraternities, their rank is : Psi U first.
Delta Phi second, and DKE third ; or inversely as their
membership and number of chapters. The lowest of
them, however, as well as its two superiors, is probably
of a good deal more importance than any of the other
chaptered college fraternities in Aiiierica,

CHAPTER IV.

SENIOR SOCIETIES.

Peculiarities of these .Societies — Skull and Bones — Its Badge Pin
and Numeral — Hall and Corporate Title — Origin — Catalogue —
Mode of Giving out Elections — Initiation — INIode of Summoning
Members to the Annual Convention — Attendance upon the Reg-
ular and Special Meetings — Peculiar Customs and Traditions —
Scroll and Key — Its Badge Pin and Vignette — Hall and Corpor-
ate Title — Origin and Growth — Customs and Traditions — Spade
and Grave — Its Origin, Precarious Existence, Change of Name,
and Final Catastrophe — The Societies and the Neutrals — Bull
and Stones — The Coffin of '69 — The Tea-Ketde of '53 — Crown
and Scepter — Star and Dart — Notable Members of the Existing
Societies — Mode of Packing and Making up a Crowd — Compar-
ison of the Societies — Their " Policies," Actual and Possible —
Failure of their Imitators in Other Colleges — General Facts
about all the Class Societies — Comparison of their Importance
in Each Year — General Result of the System.

The societies of the first three years, though possessed
of special characteristics, have yet such a general resem-
blance to one another and to those of other colleges^
that their position in the system can be readily compre-
hended by any reader of these pages, — at least, if he be
college-bred. But the senior societies are such pecu-
liarly Yale institutions, that it will be difficult for an out-
sider fully to appreciate their significance. Nothing like
them exists in other colleges ; and Harvard is the only col-
lege where, under similar conditions, they possibly could
exist. In the first place, they are the only Yale societies
whose transactions are really secret. Their members
never even mention their names, nor refer to them in any
way, in the presence of anyone not of their own number ;

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 143

and, as they are all Seniors, there are no " old members
in the class above them" to tell tales out of school.
There is no electioneering nor pledging for these socie-
ties, and no Junior is approached upon the subject in
any way until an election is actually offered him. The
number of elections given out to each class is small and
never varies, and no class nor honorary elections are ever
allowed. Both societies combined comprise but little
more than one fourth the members of an average class,
and the part played by them in politics is simply a neg-
ative one. A man's chances for office are never bet-
tered because he belongs to a senior society, but are
frequently, for that simple reason, injured or destroyed
altogether. The societies do not take their names from
the initials of a Greek motto, but from the peculiar em-
blems adopted as a badge. This badge is constantly
worn by active members ; by day upon the shirt bosom
or neck-tie, by night upon the night dress. A gymnast
or boating man will be sure to have his senior badge
attached to what little clothing he may be encumbered
with vvhile in practice ; and a swimmer, divested of all
garments whatever, will often hold it in his mouth or
hand, or attach it to his body in some way, while in the
water. Only graduate members wear the badge upon
the vest, where for the first few years they display it
quite regularly. Old graduates seldom " swing out" ex-
cept on special occasions^ or while visiting New Haven ;
and members of the faculty, except may be young fresh-
man tutors, never display a society badge when engaged
in their official duties. Members who have ceased to
show the badge openly, nevertheless may wear it about
them pretty constantl}^, perhaps by night as well as day,
for quite a number of years. The senior societies, in
theory, are composed exclusively of " big men" ; of
those who, for whatever reason, have become preemi-

144 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

nent above their fellows in college repute. In this they
differ from those of the two preceding years, which of
necessity are half made up of comparatively second-
rate men. There are a certain number — say twenty —
in each class, who, at the end of the third year, may be
picked out as the confessed superiors of the others in
popular esteem. Were it possible to do this a year or
more earlier, and were one junior society preeminently
" the best," it is doubtful if the twenty could all be per-
suaded to join it, or the society to elect them all ; for it
is plain that their individual political influence would
be greater in separate societies, partly made up of less
important men. The senior-society type, on the other
hand, is an association with no weak members whatever ;
and the history of the matter shows that unless this
ideal is adhered to with reasonable closeness such a soci-
ety cannot live long at Yale.

There are two of these societies, but as one takes its
tone from the other it may be well to describe them sep-
arately, and treat first of the oldest and most famous
member of the modern system. Its name is "Skull
and Bones," — formerly printed " Scull and Bone," —
and its badge, of solid gold, consists of the face of a
skull, supported by the crossed thigh bones, with a band,
bearing the number "322", in place of the lower jaw.
Its original badge was a rectangular gold plat«, about
the size and shape of the present Beta Xi pin, whereon
the skull-and-bones design and the numeral were simply
engraved. Its wood-cut vignette merely represents the
emblems, and is identical with that employed for general
purposes in college papers elsewhere. The number
"322" is always printed below it, though the size of the
type is not invariable. In the cut formally used, the
design was smaller that now than in vogue ; but there
never has been added to the simple emblems anything

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. I45

in the way of ornament or embellishment. Popularly
the society is known as " Bones," and its members as
" Bones men." The pin is sometimes called a "crab"
from its supposed resemblance to that animal. The
hall, erected in 1856, is situated on High street, near the
corner of Chapel, about opposite the Yale Art Building.
It is a grim-looking, windowless, tomb-like structure, of
brown sandstone, rectangular in shape, showing a front
of about 35 and a length of 44 feet, and is, at a guess,
35 feet in hight. The entrance in front is guarded by a
pair of massive iron doors, a dozen feet high, finished
off in panels, and of a dark green color; while heavy
clasps of brass close over the key-holes and are" secured
by padlocks, beneath one of which the bell-pull is con-
cealed. Previous to 1864, when these doors were put
in position, their places were occupied by commoner
ones of iron, upon which the society emblems were
displayed. The roof is nearly flat, and is covered
with half-inch plates of iron, which in 1867 took the
place of the tin before employed. There is a sky-
light, similarly protected, and the chimneys and ventila-
tors are ranged along the edges of the roof. Behind,
are a pair of small windows barred with iron, and close
to the ground are two or three scuttle holes, communi-
cating with the cellar. The building is rapidly becom-
ing covered with the ^' Virginia creeper," first planted
there in 1864, and stands back a rod or more from the
street, being separated from it by apost-and-chainfence.
The dimensions of the lot upon which it stands are
about 40 feet (front) by 70 (deep) ; and the total value
of the premises must be upwards of $30,000. Before tak-
ing possession of its present quarters, the society for many
years, — perhaps from its original organization, — occu-
pied a low-studded back room in the third story of what
is now the Courant building, opposite the college yard.
8

146 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

At the May, 1856, session of the State Legislature
the society was incorporated as the " Russell Trust
Association," with the same legal formulas as those
quoted in the case of Psi U. The names mentioned in
the act were William H. Russell of ^-r^-i^^ John S. Beach
of '39, Henry B. Harrison of '46, Henry T. Blake of
'48, Henry D. White of '51, and Daniel C. Oilman of
'52 ; — the first of whom has since acted as president, the
one next the last as treasurer, of the association. All
are residents of New Haven.

The society was originated in 1832 by fifteen mem-
bers of the class which graduated the following year.
General Russell, the valedictorian of that class, is its
reputed founder, and the best known of his associates
is Judge Alphonso Taft of Cincinnati. Some injustice
in the conferring of Phi Beta Kappa elections seems to
have led to its establishment, and apparently it was for
some time regarded throughout college as a sort of bur-
lesque convivial club. It is said that the faculty once
broke in upon one of its meetings, and from what they
saw determined upon its abolishment, but by the inter-
cessions and explanations of its founder, then serving as
tutor among them, were finally induced to spare it. The
popular college tradition, that it was transplanted from
a German university, is scouted by old neutral gradu-
ates as absurd. But, whatever be the facts as to its
origin, the mystery now attending its existence is genu-
ine, and forms the one great enigma which college gos-
sip never tires of discussing. Its catalogue is a unique
afiair, having a page six inches by four, printed upon
one side only. Each right-hand page contains the
members of a year — fifteen names indicated in full and
alphabetically arranged — with the residences, printed in
old- English text, and surrounded by a heavy border of
black. A title page, bearing the society cut and the

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 147

words " Period 2. Decade 3," precedes the list of the
founders, and a similar one, ''Period 2. Decade 4,"
stands before the class of '43, and so on for every suc-
cessive t^n years, the " Period" being always " 2," but
the " Decade" increasing each time by one. At the top
of the first list of names — the class of ^-^^^ — and sepa-
rated from them by a broad line of black, are the char-
acters, "P. 231. — D. 31.", which regularly increase by
one with each succeeding class, and are therefore, for
the class of '71, "P. 269. — D. 69." The first page of
the book displays^ in full-faced, old-English capitals, the
letters, " Otirunbcditf," arranged in a semi-oval, between
two black lines. The catalogue is black-edged, and is
bound in black leather, with the owner's name and "D.",
stamped in gilt upon the cover, — though of late the
" D." is less often indicated. It will be observed that
the " D." is always two less than the class ; thus^ a cat-
alogue labeled "John Smith, D. 62," would belong to a
member of the class of '64, and so on. What these
" Periods" and " Decades" and"P.'s" and "D.V'may
signify is known only to the initiated ; but, as the cata-
logue is never shown to outsiders, they were probably
not put there for mystification solely. That the found-
ers are put down as belonging to the " third decade
of the second period" may seem to make in favor of the
German university theory, in the minds of many; and
the blank space in place of the eleventh man's name in
the list of the founders, may perhaps be thought a
straw in the same direction. The last edition of the
catalogue was prepared in December, 1870, and was as
usual sent out in unbound sheets to each surviving mem-
ber of the society. The total membership of the 39
classes represented was of course 585.

The elections to this society are always given out on
the Thursday evening which precedes Presentation

148 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Day. Since no Junior is ever pledged or spoken to in
advance, the excitement which prevails among the
"likely men " is intense, though suppressed, as the hour
of fate draws nigh. All college, too, is on the alert, to
find what the result may be. It is said that formerly
the fifteen Bones men, at midnight, silently moved from
their hall to the rooms of the chosen ones, when the
leader, in each case displaying a human skull and bone,
said simply, " Do you accept ? " and, whatever was the
reply, the procession as silently departed. As the
neutrals got into the way of tagging about, insulting and
annoying the society on its march, this plan was aban-
doned in favor of the less formal one now in vogue.
According to this, at an early hour of the appointed
evening, a Bones Senior quietly calls at the room of a
Junior, and having been assured that "we are alone,"
says : " I offer you an election to the so-called Skull and
Bones. Do you accept ? " If the answer is affirmative
the Senior — and perhaps the graduate member who
sometimes accompanies him — shakes hands with the
neophyte, and bidding him to keep to his room for the
present, hurries back to the hall to report the result.
If the election is refused, the result is likewise reported
to headquarters, and influential members are sometimes
sent back to argue the case ; but, as a rule, the few men
who refuse elections are not offered a chance to repent.
Bones will not be dictated to, and when a man says, " I
accept, in case So-and-So is elected with me," or " in
case Such-a-One is kept out," he is never allowed to carry
his point ; Yes or No is the only answer recognized.
Suppose the elections begin to be given out about seven,
in case there are no refusals "the whole number will be
made up before nine o'clock ; if there are refusals it
may take an hour longer. In anticipation of this pos-
sibility, a half-dozen extra men are chosen in Bones, in

tim SOCIETY SYSTEM. 149

addition to the regular fifteen, and in case any of the
latter fail to say Yes, elections are offered to a corre-
sponding number of these "second choices," in the
order in Avhich they were elected. By going quickly and
quietly about their business the Bones men manage to
elude in great part the attentions of the rabble, which
ranges about the college yard on the night in question,
— barring up the entry doors, raising false alarms, and
otherwise disporting itself. The names of the chosen
men, however, are known about as quickly as the elec-
tions are conferred, and many in the crowd make out
complete lists of them, for circulation at the breakfast
table or in the division-room upon the following morning,
when they form the sole topic of discussion throughout
the college. Usually, the names are first printed in the
Courant of the Wednesday following; though for a year
or two past some of the city dailies have had the tact to
secure them for their next morning's issue. The initia-
tion begins, after the close of the Wooden Spoon Ex-
hibition, at midnight of the following Tuesday, and lasts
till about daybreak. The candidates for the ceremony
are assembled in a room of the college Laboratory,
which is guarded by Bones men, and are singly escorted
thence, by two of the latter, to the hall. As the grim
doors open for each new member, there are sounds as
of a fish horn, as of many feet hurrying up an uncar-
peted stairway, as of a muffled drum and tolling bell, —
all mingling in a sort of confused uproar, like that from
a freshman initiation a good many miles away. Per-
haps, while being led to the hall, a candidate may pass
between row^s of neutral Juniors or other college men,
some of whom may " bid him good bye," with expres-
sions of congratulation and good will, if they think his
election deserved, or insult and revile him, if their belief
goes in the contrary direction. There isusually some

ISO FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

one to flash a dark lantern upon each approaching can-
didate, and, if he makes no other personal comments,
to at least shout forth his name, for the edification of
the rest. To all this the Bones men of course pay no
attention. It perhaps takes an hour or more thus to
initiate the fifteen candidates ; and when the self-con-
stituted leader of the outside hangers on announces
that " the last man 's in," his followers agree that the
fun is over, and sullenly disperse. If they stayed longer
perhaps they might hear songs sung to strange old
tunes, and the tones of the orator's voice, and the
applause which follows it, and the prolonged cheers for
"the Skull and the Bones." And of course there is a
supper. Every resident graduate attends the initiation,
as well as many from New York and elsewhere, some
of whom come to town as early as election night ; and
the initiation itself, at least the outside part of it, is con-
ducted by graduates alone. Long ago, it is said, the
initiation took place on the evening of Presentation Day.
" The annual convention of the Order " is held on the
evening of Commencement. Three weeks previous to
this, — which, of late years, is therefore at the time of the
first regular meeting, two nights after initiation, — a
printed invitation is sent to every living member of" the
Club " whose whereabouts are known. This invitation
is upon the first page of a sheet of note paper. Below
the society cut is the date — for example, "Thursday
evening, July 22, 1869" — of Commencement night;
followed by " ^^ VI. S.B.T. ;" a Latin quotation, play-
ing upon the word " Bones ;" the signature of the secre-
tary, and the date. Upon the third page is the list of
new members, printed alphabetically in old-English
text, and surrounded by the black borders, exactly as in
the catalogue, of which it in fact constitutes a new " P."
and " D." Each one who receives it, by fitting the new

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. 1 5 1

leaf to his catalogue, thus keeps the same perfect from
year to year. These pages are doubtless stereotyped,
and preserved by the society, whose entire catalogue is
thus always kept in readiness for the printer. With
^this invitation and catalogue-page, is also sent a printed
^lip specifying the exercises of Commencement week.
^A card-size photograph of the new members, grouped —
in front of an antique clock whose hands point to the
hour of eight — about a table on which lies a skull, is also
sent to graduates, at this time or afterwards. In the
picture, the thigh bones are held by certain members, —
sometimes the table-cloth has the emblems embroidered
upon it, and the whole arrangement of the group is
apparently significant. Official notes to old members
are written upon black bordered paper of the catalogue
size, with or without the society cut at the head, and
society communications sent through the mails are often
enclosed in black-edged envelopes, — bearing at the end
a printed request to the postmaster to return them to
the society's post-office box if not delivered within
a certain time, — sealed with a skull and bones and
the letters " S.C.B., " impressed upon black wax.
Bones men never display in their college rooms any
posters or other reminders of their society, — though it
is rumored that actual skulls were formerly used for this
purpose, — but graduates often keep on the walls before
them a richly-framed photographic group of the class-
mates who made up their own special "D.," — the
picture being simply an enlargement of the card photo-
graph before noted. As specimen jokes from the con-
vention invitations the following may be quoted : " Nisi
in bonis amicitia esse non potest " (Cic. de Am. 5. i.) ;
" Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris " (Virg.
Georgs. I. 497); "Quid dicam de ossibus ? Nil nisi
bonum " ; and, in 1856, at the time of erecting the hall,

152 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

" Quid clicam de ossibus ? (Cic. de Nat, Deorum. II.
55.) O fortunati, quorum jam mcEnia surgunt!" (Virg.
-^n. I. 430,) At the head of the editorial columns of
the city dailies, on Commencement morning, was usually
displayed the " 322. VI. S.B.T." notice, between paral-
lel black rules, but for the past few years the practice has
been abandoned. Up to about the same time printed
announcements of the place and time of the Commence-
ment meeting, headed by the cut, were posted about
college, and upon the notice-boards of the different
churches, a few days in advance. Formerly, too,
similar warnings were printed, in connection with the
society cut, among the advertisements of the city papers.
As their hall is called " the Temple " by Bones men, a
current guess — and a wrong one — interprets " S.B.T."
as " Skull and Bones Temple." A more likely reading
makes " T." stand for " time," and so interprets the
notice, "Six minutes before eight," — the hour eight
being " Bones time."

The meetings are held on Thursday evening, com-
mencing exactly at eight o'clock, and every acting mem-
ber is obliged to be in attendance from that time until
the adjournment, at two or three in the morning. The
society formerly had a way of marching from its hall in
dead silence, — tramp, tramp, tramp, — to the north entry
of North College, where it might leave a man or two,
and so on, silently, in front of the row, growing smaller
as it passed the different buildings, until at the south
entry of South the few who were left disbanded. For-
merly, too, it was customary, before breaking up, to sing
a college song whose refrain was, " And I shall be his
dad ;" but this practice, for lack of voices perhaps, was
abandoned some years ago. A Bones Senior is never
seen about New Haven after eight o'clock of a Thursday
evening. Nothing but actual sickness ever keeps him

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 153

from his society, except it be absence from town, — and
those who have been absent are apt to appear for the
first time at Friday morning chapel. A good share of
the fresh graduates who are residents, and many of the
older ones, are also ordinarily in attendance at the regular
weekly meetings. Aside from the annual convention on
Commencement night, there are two other " bun^s" held
during the year, — one each at about the middle of the
first and second terms, — which bring many graduates
from out of town. These usually reach the city just
before the meeting, and leave it on the midnight trains,
so that their coming and going is not known to outsiders,
except from the hotel registers or a chance contact upon
the street.

Each Bones man has a nick-name by which he is
known to his initiated classmates. One or two of these
names, probably official titles, are retained from year to
year, but most of them change with the classes, and are
apparently conferred according to individual peculiarity
or caprice. All members of the society are also spoken
of among themselves by a certain general title ; another
is conferred upon members of the other senior society,
and a third is bestowed upon the neutrals. As these
titles, especially the latter, might convey a wrong impres-
sion if generally known, they are not mentioned here.
The society itself, among its members, is known as
" Eulogia," or the " Eulogian Club." It is believed to
have little or no regard to any formal, written constitu-
tion, but to be governed chiefly by tradition in its cus-
toms and usages. The hall is reputed to be a sort of
repository for old college mementos ; like the ^^ first
college bell," the original "bully-club," the constitutions
of defunct societies, etc., which are all said to be pre-
served there ; and when anything of the kind disap-
pears, this is surmised to be its final destination. Though
8*

154 POVk YEARS AT YALK.

Thursday night is the regular time of meeting, when
attendance is compulsory, the hall is generally frequented
on Saturday and other nights also, and is often visited
in the day time besides. An old member often goes
there as soon as he reaches town, especially, if in quest
of information in regard to classmates who were formerly
associated there with him. At convention time, the
members who cannot in person attend, send to the soci-
ety such facts as to their whereabouts and occupations
for the year, as may interest old classmates and friends ;
and their letters are filed away for future reference.
Every book or pamphlet written by a member is also
preserved in the society archives ; and its collection of
printed and manuscript " Yalensia" is said to be very
complete.

To discover the exact meaning of the inevitable num-
eral "322," has long been a problem for college mathe-
maticians. According to soirie, it signifies " 1832," or
the year the society was founded ; others make it
"3+2+2" or "7," which is said to be the number of
" founders" in the class of '33, who persuaded the other
eight to join them in making up the original fifteen ;
still another surmise sets it at "3X2X2," or " 12," which
might refer to the midnight hour of breaking up, or
something equally mysterious ; while a fourth guess in-
terprets it to mean " the year 322 B. C", and connects
i-t with the names of Alexander or Demosthenes. What
these heroes may have in common with the Skull and
Bones society, aside from departing this life on or just
before the year in question, is not very plain ; but it is
pretty well established that Bones' "322" refers to that
year B. C, whatever may be its additional significance.
While the class of '69 were in college the hall, accord-
ing to report, was twice broken into by neutrals, and
strange stories were circulated of the wonderful myste-

THE SOCIE TY S YSTEM. 1 5 5

ries there discovered by the interlopers. It is probably
a fact that these men did really enter the hall, through
the skylight in the roof; but there is no reason for trust-
ing their own account of their exploits any further than
this, since, if, as is not unlikely, the arrangement of things
inside prevented their making any important discoveries,
they would of course invent a sufficient number of sup-
posititious mysteries, to clear themselves of the re-
proach of having ventured upon a fool's errand. None
of their statements, therefore, have been thought worth
repeating here. A surreptitious visit, real or pretended,
was hardly necessary as a preliminary to assuring the col-
lege that " Bones keeps its most valuable documents
locked up in an iron safe," since the same fact holds
good for every society after sophomore year.

" Scroll and Key " is the name of the other senior
society, which was founded nine years later than its more
famous rival, that is to say, in 1841, by a dozen mem-
bers of the class of '42. Popularly it is known as
" Keys," though this abbreviation has only come into
general use within the last half-dozen years. Its pin, of
plain gold, represents a key lying across a scroll, and
its wood-cut simply copies it. The design is such that
it is difficult to tell the right side from the wrong, and
the cut, when printed bottom upwards, as it often is,
is rarely noticed as possessing other than its ordinary
look. The original badge was a rectangular gold plate,
of the same size and shape as the old Bones pin,
whereon were engraved an eagle, poised above, suspend-
ing a scroll, and a right hand below, grasping a key.
This is still worn, by a single member at a time, in
place of the usual scroll and key, presumably as a mark
of office, like society president or something of the sort.
The letters " C.S.P.," " C.C.J.," are always printed with
the society cut, — the former above, the latter below it,

156 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

— and with it usually serve as the only introduction to
the lists of members printed in the Banner and else-
where, though the name " Scroll and Key " is sometimes
prefixed. The Bones lists, on the other hand, are
always headed with the full name of the society. The
posters which, until within a few years, were put up
about the college yard and elsewhere at Commencement
season, for the benefit of graduates, displayed an eagle
poised above the ordinary emblems, with no print — in
addition to the inevitable letters — except the day and
hour of the meeting, — '^9 p. m./' perhaps, — or the nu-
meral " 142." A small, seal-like wood-cut of the
society, displays the clasped hands upon an open scroll,
with " Adelphoi" in Greek capitals at the top, " 1852 "
below, and at the bottom two hieroglyphic characters,
the one like a Gothic " T," the other like an old style
Greek "jT;" while the only trace of the key is its head,
which projects from the top of the scroll. Another,
steel-engraved, seal, represents the eagle, looking down
from above upon the central scroll and key, upon which
the letters are indicated, while an open right hand
reaches up from below. The framework of the device is
made up of fifteen oblong links, and its shape cannot
be better described than by saying that if there v/ere
sixteen links it would be an eight-pointed star ; as it
is, the ten lower links make up five points, but the upper
five — in place of the six, which would make the remain-
ing three — are simply rounded together. This, too,
was the shape of the inner frame-work of the old gold-
plate badge. The present pin has been said to be
plain, because the eagle and hand, faintly outlined upon
it, do not change this general appearance. Neither of
the senior badges have their owners' names or anything
of the sort engraved upon their backs. The invitations to
the "Z. S."— or "bum" held at the middle of the first

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 157

and second terms — are printed within a scroll-like design
from which the key is absent ; or else with the ordinary
cut at the head of the note. The company of the
" brother " is simply requested upon the appointed even-
ing, and he is directed to answer the secretary, which
officer is designated by the letter " G.," and is his " in
truth." Aside from these initial letters, there is no
mystery about the affair, which is either printed in gilt,
or, if in black, has mourning bands about the edges of
the page. All society communications are also for-
warded in black-edged " return " envelopes, as in the
case of Bones, sealed in black wax with the society
emblems and letters. There have been several editions
of the society catalogue ; and it is probabJe that a
printed list of the elections is forwarded each year to
every old member, in connection with the invitation to
the celebration of Commencement night. A card-size
photograph of each new group of fifteen is doubtless
similarly distributed, either then or afterwards. In this
picture, the central figure holds a large gilt model of
the society badge, — the six letters being indicated on
the scroll, — and each of the end men grasps a large ke}^,
pointed towards the centre of the group. Eight are
seated, including the three mentioned, and the remain-
der are standing, but the position of each individual is
probabfy not significant. Enlarged photographs of the
same sort are handsomely framed and hung in the
rooms of graduates. The anniversary of Commence-
ment night used to be announced among the ordinary
advertisements of the city papers, in connection with
the society cut. More recently, at the head of their
editorial columns of Commencement morning, " C.S.P.
—P.V.S.Q.P.M.— C.C.J.," or something of the sort, ap-
peared, between double rules of black. But this prac-
tice has now been abandoned.

158 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

The hall hitherto (since 1847, when the house where
it stayed was destroyed by fire) occupied by the society
is in the fourth story of the Leffingwell Building, corner
of Church and Court streets, across from the Tontine
Hotel. The headquarters of the Yale " law depart-
ment " are upon a lower floor of the same building, and
a Masonic lodge-room divides the upper story with
Keys. Judged from the outside, this hall must at the
most be limited to two not very large rooms, and the
Keys men, when assembled in force, be cribbed,
cabined and confined together in uncomfortably close
proximity. This old order of things, however, has
recently come to an end, and Keys is now in possession
of a hall, far superior in costliness and architectural
beauty, not only to Bones hall, but to any college-society
hall in America. It stands on the north-west corner of
College and Wall streets, and its erection had been
planned and talked about for a dozen years or more.
At midnight of Thursday, Nov. 25, 1869, — the date
of the fall "Z.S.," — the society, graduates and all,
marched to the vacant lot, round which they formed a
ring, while prayer was offered, and a society-song sung,
after which, a graduate with a silver spade formally
broke ground for the new edifice. Then came the sing-
ing of the " Troubadour " song, and the procession,
dangling its keys, silently moved back to the old quar-
ters on Church street. Only the foundation of the
building was laid before the setting in of winter ; but
the work was resumed the following May, and rapidly
pushed to completion ; and it is presumed that the for-
mal ceremonies of entering and taking possession will
be celebrated at the next Commencement. The structure
has a front of 36 feet on College street, with 6 feet of
ground each side, and is 55 feet long, with an open
space of about 20 feet before and behind, in other words,

THE SOCIE TV SYSTEM. 1 59

it stands in the center of a lot 48 by 92. Its hight is
perhaps 35 feet. The light yellow Cleveland stone is
the chief material of which it is composed. This is set
off by thin layers of dark blue marble, while four pillars
of Aberdeen granite, with marble cappings, sustain the
three projecting arches in front. Each arch surrounds
a narrow opening, provided with three bull's eyes for
the admission of air. Below the central arch are a pair
of paneled, massive iron doors, to which entrance a flight
of half-a-dozen stone steps leads up from either side.
Five similar arches, though without projections or sup-
ports, serve to adorn and ventilate each side, and a cor-
responding number of closely protected scuttle-windows
communicate with the cellar below. Rows of short
pillars — four at each end, six at each side — surround
the top,— the central two at the rear end serving to hide
the chimneys, — and a couple of stars are cut out in the
stone between every pair of them. The architect was
Richard M. Hunt of New York, and the builders were
Perkins & Chatfield of New Haven. The value of the
entire property cannot be much less than $50,000, and
it is to be presumed that a good share of that amount
has already been raised by the society. The " Kingsley
Trust Association," which is the legal style thereof, was
incorporated at the May, i860, session of the State
Legislature, in the names of John A. Porter of '42,
William L. Kingsley of '43, Samuel C. Perkins of '48,
Enos N. Taftof '51, Lebeus C. Chapin, George E.
Jackson, and Homer B. Sprague of '52, Charlton T.
Lewis of '53, Calvin G. Child and Josiah W. Harmar of
'55, and Edward G. Mason and Mason Young of '60.
These comprise its best known names, and were perhaps
chosen on that account, since only the president, Mr.
Kingsley, is a resident of the city.
In the Yale Banger of 1845, published by the Sigma

i6o FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Theta Sophomores, is a burlesque of the Keys cut, rep-
resenting the Scroll as a " Declaration of Independence
from the Scull and Bone," signed by the "great seal,"
which consists of a view of the historical fox reaching
after the equally celebrated sour grapes. This proba-
bly represents, with substantial accuracy, the motive
which originated Keys. Its founders, not being lucky
enough to secure elections to Bones, determined to start
in business upon their own account, and hence the society.
Its ceremonies, customs, hours of meeting, etc., have all
been patterned after those of Bones, and the nearer it
approaches to its model the more of a success it is
judged to be, both by its own members and by the college
at large. Its existence for the first dozen years was
apparently a precarious one. In only three classes be-
fore 1852 did it obtain the regular number of members
(15), which Bones has never varied in electing, but
ranged from nine — the lowest, in '5 1 — to fourteen. Since
that time exactly fifteen names for each class have always
been printed in its public lists, and since 1S60 exactly
fifteen men and no more have joined the society from
each class. Previous to the latter date, it was a common
thing to give out one or two or more class or secret elec-
tions, so that in some classes there have been seventeen
or eighteen members, and almost all the classes which at
first fell below][the regular number, now appear in the
catalogue with their full complement of fifteen names
apiece. The men who accepted these after-elections to
the society usually displayed their badge like the others,
though sometimes the fact of their membership was
kept a secret and they were not allowed to wear them
about the college, nor until after graduation. Hence in
every class to the present day there are almost always
one or two men, who are believed by many to be " secret
members" of Keys, because, being friends of the " crowd,''

THE SOCIE TY S YSTEM. 1 6 1

they naturally associate with it, as they would were there
no such society in existence. It is also rumored, with
less probability, that notable men are sometimes chosen
as honorary members. George Vanderhoff, the reader,
is one of them, according to the authority of the Banger^
— which, however, may have meant the statement for a
joke. Similar rumors are also sometimes started in
regard to Bones, but are far less generally credited, and
are probably altogether groundless. Certain it is that
the fact of there being a secret or honorary member, of
there being more or less than fifteen members from each
and every class since 1833, has never been in a single
case authenticated. Up to as recent a date as i860,
Keys had great difficulty in making up its crowd, rarely
being able to secure the full fifteen upon the night of
giving out elections, but, by dint of electioneering and
"packing" in the interval between that time and initia-
tion night, managed — after 1851 — to swing out the ortho-
dox number of new badges upon Presentation morning.
Probably it would have given pledges in advance, like
the lower-class societies, save that in those days any one
standing the slightest chance for Bones preferred it to
a " sure thing on" the other society. The true Caesar-or-
no-one sentiment seems to have had full sway, and the
best men of the class who did not secure Bones elec-
tions apparently preferred to go through senior year as
neutrals rather than as members of a confessedly infe-
rior society. The proportion of " big men" among the
neutral Seniors was consequently much greater then than
in these latter days. Keys, in fact, up to the time when it
attained its twenty-first birthday, occupied a position in
college regard very much analagous to that more recently
held by the Diggers' society, to be described hereafter.
It is only within the last lustrum that it has come to be
a rival of Bones, and that the half-loaf sentiment has

l62 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

grown common, which prompts a man when his chances
for the latter are spoiled, to "lay" diligently for the
former.

The Keys mode of giving out elections — as well as the
rest of its customs — corresponds as nearly as possible
to the practice of Bones. Formerly the fifteen mem-
bers, each carrying a key some two feet in length, in a
body silently marched to the rooms of the men who had
been chosen ; and then the leader — possibly displaying
the large gilt scroll-and-key model before mentioned —
may have said simply, " Do you accept ?" Of late, how-
ever, the practice is for two members, — one a Senior, the
other a graduate, — each carrying one of the exagger-
ated keys, to proceed together to the room of each
chosen man. The Senior raps sharply with his key
upon the door, and, both stepping in, says, " I offer you
an election to the so-called Scroll and Key. Do you
accept ?" If the answer is Yes, both Keys men shake
the Junior by the hand, and tramp back to their hall,
where the result of the first election is received before
a party start out to confer the second, and so on for the
others. On this account the elections progress much
more slowly than in the case of Bones, and more oppor-
tunities are given to the rabble in the yard to yell
" Keys ! Keys ! Keys ! " and surge about the bearers of
those implements, whose approach is usually announced,
by self-stationed outposts, in the neighborhood of the
State House steps. In 1868, all the Bones elections
had been given out for more than an hour, and the
" packed Keys Crowd " of '69 had begun to feel a trifle
nervous, when the first key -bearers appeared in the yard.
There seems to be no very great significance in the
order in which the elections are conferred, except that
the one first received is perhaps to be interpreted as
especially honorable ; but on the other hand this is

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 163

sometimes offered to a man, who is by no means the
society's first choice, in order if possible to anticipate
Bones in securing him.

[ The initiation takes place at the same time as the
other one, and like it lasts till morning. The rendezvous
for the candidates is probably some room in the neigh-
borhood of the hall, at all events is outside the college
yard, and as the hall is not so convenient to the colleges
as that of Bones the neutrals pay less attention to what
takes place there on initiation night. Visitors who may
be stopping at the Tontine Hotel on the night of Wooden
Spoon, however, seldom sleep very soundly, if their
rooms chance to be situated upon the north side of the
building. Resident and other graduates attend the
initiations, and the regular meetings also,' — though to a
less extent than in Bones, — and the rule requiring the
presence of active members on Thursday nights from
eight o'clock till two, is also strictly enforced. An ab-
sent member of '68, suspected of make-believe sickness,
was one time forcibly hurried off to the meeting by two
classmates, who rushed up from the hall for that pur-
pose, with a great display of crossed keys ; and the
procedure may be gone through with in other instances
which excite less attention than did that, — though the
cases where it is necessary to enforce discipline are of
course uncommon. At the close of its meetings, the
society was in the habit of marching up through the
green, past the State House, to the college yard, singing
on the w^ay, or just before disbanding, the well-known
song, " Gaily the Troubadour touched his Guitar."
Though this was always finely done, and very acceptable
to all who heard it, the faculty — induced, it is said, by the
discordant bowlings of the " Stones men " — included
Keys in the general edict promulgated last year against
society singing, and ordered its discontinuance. The

164 JFOUR YEARS AT YALE,

current traditions in regard to Keys are not very
numerous, nor is the belief in its mysterious origin
wide-spread, as in the case of Bones. Its letters are
supposed to signify : " Collegium Sanctum Pontificum ;
Collegium Conservat jfupiiery Bones having set up
Demosthenes as its patron saint, Keys seemed deter-
mined to "go one better" and claim the recognition of
great Zeus himself " Zenome " is one the society words
supposed to possess mysterious significance. According
to rumor, a magnificent stuffed eagle forms one of the
chief decorations of its hall ; though as this report
originated with a '(i^ neutral who professed to have
" been there," not much reliance should be placed upon
it. Keys, like Bones, also keeps the photographs of its
members, a library, paintings, pictures, obsolete society
badges, old college mementos, and general memorabilia.
A third senior society also existed during the time
that the class of '69 was in college. Its name, taken
from its badge, was " Spade and Grave." The spade,
partly thrust into the grave, rested upon the footstone of
the same, and upon the headstone was represented a
crown, — gold of course being the material of the entire
pin. The grave was perhaps a little more than an inch
in length, and the badge had one or two variations in
size and shape. The " Bed and Broom," it was at first
called by outsiders ; and, by the more respectful ones,
the society was known as " Graves," and its members
as "Graves men." None of these names were ever
popular, however, and " Diggers " soon came to be the
only title by which the society or its members were
referred to. Bones men, among themselves, also
adopted this name for them. " To give community and
sweetness to the eating of sour grapes " was, even more
notoriously than in the case of the original Keys men,
the object for which the Diggers started their society.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 165

The immediate cause which banded them together in
the scheme was a quarrel in the class of '64. Of the

ve Yale Lit, editors in that class, three had been
chosen to Bones and two were neutrals. One of these
two published, as a leading article in the magazine for

ebruary of that year, a piece called " Collegial Ingenu-
ty," reflecting on the mode by which men may worm their
way into Bones, and, it was claimed, making personal
insinuations against a particular member of that society ;
and on this latter ground the Bones editors, who formed
a majority of the five, voted to suppress the article, and
requested its writer to produce another to take the place
of it, — themselves meanwhile seizing upon all the
printed copies. The neutral editor refused to obey, and
called a class meeting which voted to sustain him, and
commanded the Bones editors to surrender the maga-
zines within a certain time, or be expelled from office.
As they paid no attention to the order, the class
elected three neutrals in their places, and these,
with the two original neutral editors, duly brought out
a new edition of the February number, " Collegial In-
genuity " and all, and edited the two following numbers,
— with the latter of which their term of office expired by
limitation. The Bones editors meanwhile issued the
February number, — with an explanation of their action
printed in place of the obnoxious " leader," but other-
wise unchanged,— -and duly published the two remaining
numbers of their term, still keeping the five original
names at the head of the title-page, as if nothing had
happened. Thus, for three months, there were two
issues of the Lit., each of which claimed to be the
" regular " one. The Bones editors were really in the
right, as the class had no legal power to interfere in the
matter, and the three magazines issued by the other
editors have been known as the "second issue/' The

1 66 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

five members of that second editorial board of '64 have
the credit of founding Diggers', and they with ten other
classmates first swung out the Spade and Grave badge
at the beginning of the summer term of that year. On
the Thursday before Presentation Day, elections were
given out to fifteen members of '65, who were the first
Diggers to have their names in print (in the Banner of
the following autumn). The grave scene in " Hamlet,"
wherein the digger tosses up the skull and bones with
his spade, is said to have suggested the badge as a fit
emblem to typify the hostility of the new society to the
old one, and its power ultimately to work the overthrow
of the haughty Skull and Bones itself Its hall was
in the Lyon Building, on Chapel street, on the same
floor with that of Gamma Nu ; was supplied with com-
mon iron doors without and a billiard table within ; and
was reputed to be elegantly furnished, and among other
things to have one of its rooms entirely covered with
black velvet. In February, 1870, as already stated, its
premises were taken possession of and have since been
occupied by the sophomore society of Theta Psi. Its
wood cut was simply a copy of its badge ; and the same
design, enlarged, carved in black-walnut and mounted in
a frame of the same wood, was displayed in the rooms of
members, as a sort of poster ; though the practice was
not much in vogue after the first year or two.

The society started under a cloud, and never emerged
from it, but rather seemed to fall deeper and deeper into
its shade the older it grew. It was always despised and
looked down upon. Even those who joined it, in many
cases cursed and ridiculed it by turns, up to the very
moment of accepting their elections. Spite of careful
packing and electioneering in advance, it always had
difficulty in making up its crowd on the same night with
the other societies, and it always had elections refused.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 167

No one standing the least chance for Bones or Keys
could be got to go to it, and the best of those left out
by these societies preferred to remain neutrals altogether.
Psi U men used to boast that no member of their soci-
ety ever became a Digger; and the four classes between
the first and last were certainly composed exclusively of
Delta Phi and DKE men. There was, however, one
member of Psi U among the founders, and four in '69
accepted elections, — much to the chagrin of their com-
rades. Everyone sneered at the society, including many
of course who w^ould gladly have joined it had they
been able ; but the scrubbiest neutral of them all would
affect to take offense were such an idea hinted at, and
stoutly assert that, " had the Diggers ventured to offer
him an election, he would have indignantly hurled back
the insult in their faces !" This show of independence
after election time is past is quite a common thing ; but
the men of '69, even as Juniors, used to shout a sort of
chorus, " Todtengraber ist giit," to the tune of " Trunca-
dillo" ; they equipped a burlesque " spade and grave"
in the college yard one day ; and in other ways so defied
the powers above them that it became a problem
whether the Diggers of '68 could secure any successors.
There was the usual amount of electioneering and pack-
ing, but on election night only three men could by the
most urgent entreaties be secured, from the indefinite
number to whom elections were offered ; so these three
were released and no new Digger pins were swung forth
upon the morning of Presentation Day. The next pub-
lic appearance of the society was on the first Friday
morning of the following October, when fifteen senioric
shirt-bosoms were adorned by as many new badges, the
design being a crown from within which projected the
ends of a crossed sword and scepter. This was super-
seded the following term by a larger sized pin of the

1 68 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

same pattern. By a pretty thorough canvassing of the
class, in the three months' interval, these new members
had been raked together, and induced to " run" the soci-
ety for a year, in the hope that under a changed name
the same old story could not be told concerning them.
At least half of them were secretly pledged and initiated
before Commencement, and wore the old Grave badge
during vacation, in localities where they would be un-
likely to meet with Yale undergraduates. From the
headstone of this old badge, it will be observed, the
crown itself was taken. Above the old cut, in the Ban-
ner^ the name " Spade and Grave " was printed in full ;
while above the new crown design were simply the let-
ters, " S. L. M. " ( popularly translated " Slim " or
■" Slimy"), which had not before been made public,
though reckoned among the original mysteries of Dig-
gers'. Freshmen spoke of the society as " Crown and
Scepter," or " Sword and Crown," but upper-class men
clung relentlessly to the old title, and the doom of Dig-
gers' was sealed. Its usual arts were wasted upon the
class of '70 ; not one of them would pledge, either
before, on, or after, election night ; and so, after a pre-
carious existence of five years, it was forced to give up
the hopeless fight and the ghost.

Like Keys', its customs were all modeled as closely
as possible after those of Bones, which it was to spade
out of existence so quickly. Three men always came
up from the hall to give out each election, two of the
trio walking abreast in front, and the third following
close upon their rear. A dark lantern or a club was
often carried by one of them. The yells and outcries
with which the rabble greeted the approach of Digger
election carriers were far more prolonged and uproarious
than in the case of the other societies. The Juniors
upon whom they called would be invoked with such cries

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 169

as: "Kick 'em out, Jim !" " Oh, Tom ! don't be a Dig-
ger !" " Shut your door on 'em, Jack ! Don't let 'em fool
you !" and so on ; while the Diggers themselves would
be treated to all manner of compliments and personal
attentions, such as were never bestowed upon the other
election carriers. " How can I leave Thee," was the
song sometimes sung outside at the close of the meet-
ings, either while marching, or on arriving at the col-
lege yard ; otherwise the procession silently tramped up
Chapel street to South College, and so on in front oi
the row, dropping its men at each entry until none were
left. It was believed to have had a good many secret
members, — even including some from the Scientific
School, — and several ^d}) men are known to have be-
longed to it. After the change of base in 1868, the
graduate members ceased to wear the old Grave badge.
The society was unincorporated, and had never printed
any catalogue. Its letters were supposed to represent
the motto, Scepiruin Ligonibiis Mors.

Not only do senior-society men never mention their
own society in the presence of others, but they never
even refer to the existence of a rival society, and when
an outsider mentions this in their presence, even to a
third party, they appear to take offense, and perhaps
withdraw. So, too, they are offended if a man sings, or
even hums the air, of the songs which they sometimes
sing in public ; though these are familiar melodies, and
have long been procurable in the form of sheet music.
This same fact holds true, to a lesser extent, in the case
of the junior and sophomore societies. A certain air
gets in a measure identified with a particular society
song ; and as members of the society never use it
except in singing together, they dislike to hear it
whistled by an outsider. A Sophomore, for instance,
a few years ago, by persistently whistling, " All on a
9

lyo FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

summer's day," would probably have injured his chances
of a DKE election ; and, in the case of Psi U, perhaps
the same would still be true of one who should be con-
stantly humming, " In a few days." Senior-society men
may also refuse to speak when passing in front of their
hall, and in some cases to notice a neutral classmate
v«hom they may chance to meet after eight o'clock of a
Thursday evening. An instance is related in the class
of '67 of two Bones men who brought from their meet-
ing a sick classmate and put him to bed in his room,
without paying any attention to his neutral chum who
was there present, though he was also a classmate with
whom they were on friendly terms. This exaggerated
display of secrecy is quite a modern outgrowth, how-
ever, being altogether unknown to the old members of
fifteen or twenty years ago, and it attained its highest
pitch in the class just mentioned, — since when, senior-
society men have conducted themselves much more
sensibly. For many evident reasons, the costs of
membership in a senior society are much greater
than in any other, though most of their money is raised
by voluntary contributions, and a man eligible in other
respects is not kept out on account of his poverty. On
the other hand, a man's wealth of course adds to his
chances of election in senior year more than in any
other. The annual running expenses of a society, in
which graduates take so prominent a part, cannot and
ought not to be borne by fifteen men alone, and there
are doubtless permanent funds whose income is avail-
able for such purpose s,-^-at least in Bones, whose prop-
erty is fully paid for. To increase this fund, almost
every old member sends in an annual contribution,
according to his means, for five or ten years after
graduation day.

It is in senior year alone that the neutrals largely out-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 171

number the society men, that they have nothing to
hope for in the way of class elections, and that they are
not overawed by the presence of upper-class men.
These three circumstances combine to foster in some of
them a sort of reckless hostility towards these societies,
such as is not felt towards those of the earlier years.
This displays itself in a variety of ways. The conduct
of the neutrals when the senior elections are given out
has been already described, and the fact noticed, at
least by implication, that they never in the least inter-
fere with the similar ceremonies of the other societies.
Nor yet do they ever attempt to break into the halls of
the latter. It was in the class of '66 that this hostility
tirst definitely displayed itself, in the institution of a sort
of a mock " society " called " Bowl and Stones," — the
name being a take-off on that of Bones, and the duties
of its members being simply to range about the colleges
at a late hour on Thursday night, or early on Friday
morning when the senior societies disbanded, singing
songs in ridicule of the latter, blocking up the entries,
and making a general uproar. The refrain of one song,
to the tune of " Bonnie Blue Flag," was " Hurrah !
Hurrah! for jolly Bowl and Stones" ; of another, to the
tune of " Babylon," " Haughty Bones is fallen, and we
gwine down to occupy the Skull." Another function of
the " Stones men " was to offer bogus elections to simple
minded classmates, or even to under-class men, — whom
they were sometimes able to "sell.". In the class of
^dl they were at their worst, and wantonly smashed
bottles of ink upon the front of Bones hall, and tore the
chains from its fence. On the Thursday morning which
preceded the Presentation Day of 1868, the Stones men
of that class posted up a comic handbill, purporting to
show the "order of exercises " which would be observed
by the senior societies in giving out their elections that

172 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

evening. There was some little wit employed in the
composition of this notice, and is was the only thing
emanating from the "society" that was not at once
weak and discreditable. The modified name, " Bull, and
Stones," then first appeared ; which form has since been
retained. Some members of the class of '70 even went
so far as to procure a small gilt representation of " a
bull" standing upon "stones," which was worn as a
burlesque badge pin, even in public, and in some cases
quite regularly, during the first term of their senior year.
Of course there is nothing to this "society" except what
has been told ; its " members " are few or many accord-
ing to the state of the weather ; and any neutral senior
who is ready to join a crowd for making an uproar on
Thursday night is, from that fact only, a good and
regular" Stones man." Indeed, the name has of late
come to be accepted as a synonym for any senior-society
neutral whatever ; and every one not elected to either of
the two societies is said to "belong to Stones." At the
time of the last initiation, the Stones men seized upon
and confiscated for their own use the ice-cream and
other good things which the confectioner was engaged
in taking into Bones hall. Since then, one or two pro-
jected " raids " of the same sort have been frustrated by
the presence of a policeman. Now-a-days, lliursday
night is the favorite time for the more depraved Stones
men to "go off on a bum" together, and afterwards
wake the echoes of the college yard with their discordant
bowlings.

That this " society " showed no signs of existence in
the class of '69 was perhaps due in great measure to
the existence of another more creditable organization,
some of whose members would probably, save for it,
have been leading " Stones men." On the morning of
Presentation Day, 1868, fourteen men, v.ho had been

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 173

neutrals since freshman year, were noticed to wear upon
their shirt bosoms, gilt coffin lids, about an inch in
length. Their names were printed in the annuals of
the next term, under the '• senior-society " heading,
beneath a wood-cut of the badge, above which appeared
the letters " E.T.L.," but no name. They were spoken
of as " Coffin m.en," or " ETL's," when mentioned at
all ; and, so far as known, met quite regularly on Thurs-
day nights, perhaps in some room rented for the pur-
pose. They said nothing in regard to themselves or the
regular senior societies, and they attempted to give no
elections in the class of '70. The society passed in the
class for a joke ; but, for the negative benefit it effected
in restraining some who would otherwise have been
uproarious, as well as for the positive advantages it
may have conferred upon all its members, it deserves to
be held in grateful recollection. Perhaps somewhat
similar to this was the " Tea-Ketde " society, established
in the class of '53, which has left nothing behind it save
the announcement of its birth in the Lit. Another
short-lived association was the " Swoi*d and Crown "
which was existing in 1843 with fifteen members. Its
badge was a rectangular gold plate, upon which, within
an ornamental border, the appropriate emblems were
engraved. These did not much resemble the last badge
of the Diggers, as the crown was a much more elaborate
and highly ornamented affiiir, and the sword and scepter
were crossed behind rather than within it. An existing
poster showing a wood-cut of the simple emblems bears
the direction, "^^ S.T.G. 8.30 a.m." Another poster,
which perhaps had no connection with this or any other
society, shows the three letters "lota Kappa Sigma,"
printed in heavy black type, with " 24 D " appended.
Still another, represents a naked figure just trundling
over a precipice a wheelbarrow in which are loaded a

174 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

skull and some bones and a scroll and a key and a star
and a dart. The " Star and Dart " society was estab-
lished in 1843, and apparently occupied a position
somewhat analogous to the present one of Bull and
Stones, though it really had an organization of some
sort. The frame-work of its rectangular gold-plate
badge was an exact copy of that of the Bones pin, and
the emblems of the two societies now existing formed
the chief part of the engraved central design. The
eagle of Keys, that is to say, was represented as fiercely
picking to pieces the Skull and Bones at its feet, while
a Dart, appearing in the right upper corner, was about
to destroy the eagle, and a Star in the left upper corner
was supposed to denote " the prosperity and final suc-
cess of the society over its rivals." A wood-cut copy
of this design surmounted the following notice printed
among the advertisements of a New Haven newspaper :
^^ Nos in vitafratres sumus. C. 2954 a. F. 00 dd Z 0>J .
There will be a general meeting in" New Haven on
Thursday evening, Aug. 15, 1844. Yale College, Aug.
10." Possibly there were other Commencement times
at which a similar notice was printed, and doubtless
posters to the same effect used also to be displayed
about the college buildings at such seasons. After a
period of suspended animation, the society was revived
in the class of '49, and the members belonging to it in
the classes of '50 and "51 (fifteen in one case, eleven in
the other) had their names published in the Banner, in
connection with the society cut and the numeral " 2954."
From this publicity, as well as the character of many
of the members, it is to be inferred that there was
really a little something to the society, and that its
existence was not altogether contemptible. Whether it
had a hall of its own, and regular weekly meetings and
exercises ; whether it made any pretensions to equality

THE SO CIE TV S VS TEM. 1 7 5

with the two reputable societies ; whether it was so
hostile to them as its badge would imply ; whether its
crowd was made up before, at the same time, or after
the other elections were given out ; and whether it died
by choice or by necessity, — all these things, on the
other hand, must remain uncertainties, until some
traitorous ex-member thereof shall reveal to an anxiously
expectant world the real history and mystery of the late
Star and Dart.

Among the many Bones men worthy of mention are :
Henry C. Kingsley of '34, treasurer of the college \
Prof. Thomas A. Thacher of '35 ; Col. Henry C. Dem-
ing of '36 ; Attorney General William M. Evarts, Profs.
Chester S. Lyman and Benjamin Silliman, of '37 ; Rev.
Dr. Joseph P. Thompson of '38 ; Prevost Charles J.
Stille' of '39 ; Prof. James M. Hoppin of '40 ; Gen.
William T. S. Barry and Donald G. Mitchell, of '41 ;
Henry Stevens, F. R. S., of '43 ; Senator Orris S. Ferry
of '44 ; Gen. Dick Taylor of '45 ; Henry B. Harrison of
'46 ; Henry T. Blake and Dwight Foster, of '48 ; Charles
G. Came, Profs. William B. Clark and Timothy Dwight,
of '49 ; President Andrew D. White of '53 ; Dr. John
W. Hooker of '54 ; Rev. Elisha Mulford of '55 ; Wil-
liam H. W. Campbell, editor, of the Norwich BiiUeiin,
Chauncey M. Depew, N. Y. secretary of State, and Prof.
Lewis R. Packard, of '56 ; Gen. John T. Croxton and
Prof. Cyrus Northrop, of '57 ; Addison Van Name of
'58, librarian of the college ; Eugene Schuyler of '59, U.
S. consul at Moscow ; Edward R. Sill of '61 ; and Prof
Edward B. Coe of '62. The most prominent Keys men
have already been mentioned in naming its twelve incor-
porators, but additional names to be noticed aj-e : Gen.
Theodore Runyon of '42 ; Rev. Dr. Gordon Hall of '43 ;
Robert P. Farris of '47, editor of the Missouri Republi-
can; Rev. John E.. Todd of '55, son of Rev. Dr. Todd,

176 FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

the opponent of college secret societies ; Sidney E.
Morse of '56, publisher of the N. Y. Observer ; Gen.
John W. Swayne of '56 ; Dr. Daniel G. Brinton of '58 ;
Prof. Daniel C. Eaton of '60 ; and Joseph L. Shipley of
'61, editor of the Scranton Republican. Five Keys men
and one Digger made up the famous " Wilbur Bacon
crew" of 1865.

Formerly, when Seniors took a more active part than
now in the junior societies, men who did not belong to
these were often chosen to the senior societies, but of
late a membership in the former is a necessary stepping
stone for admission to the latter ; not confessedly, of
course, but by the rule which is sure to force a junior
society into electing every man eligible for election a
year later, and to compel every such man to accept such
election. It has been noticed of late years that Psi U
generally has a majority in Bones, and DKE in Keys,
though in '71 Psi U had six men in Bones and nine in
Keys, to DKE's nine and six. It should not be inferred
from this that senior-society men allow their junior year
or earlier society connections to prejudice them in elect-
ing their successors. They apparently have regard for
the interests of their senior society simply, and choose
those whom they think will most benefit it, without
much regard to outside considerations. Much of the
excitement over the election of Cochs and Lit. Editors
turns upon the question of senior societies. Each one
of these officers is supposed to " stand a chance," and
shortly after their election the two " crowds" begin defi-
nitely to be made up. There are always some " sure
men" to form a nucleus, — the Spoon Man for instance,
is always certain of receiving a Bones election, — and
about these the "likely" ones who are not quite so
" sure" try to " pack" themselves. Thus a "crowd" is
made up in the interest of each society. Its members

TtiE SO CIE TV S YSTEM. i 7 7

"run" together constantly, call one another by their first
names, and make a great display of familiarity, — espe-
cially in the presence of " their" Seniors, — as much as
to say, "We can't be separated. Take all of us or
none." This sort of thing is practised chiefly by pros-
pective Keys men, who can make up their crowd with a
tolerable certainty that their evident wishes will be re-
spected by the society. It is seldom that Keys ventures
to keep out more than a single man from a well defined
pack, and substitute one of their own choosing in his
place. Such a pack really has the power in its own
hands, and should the members of it agree to " stand by
one another" they could of course carry their point ;
but the refusal of a senior-society election, even condi-
tionally, seems so terrible a thing, that they have rarely
the courage to -nrnke a direct demand. Keys, however,
has in some instances been obliged to submit to such
dictation. The society undoubtedly winks at " packing,"
and indirectly gives it on occasions its official aid, —
though not as frequently nor as extensively as is some-
times reported. There are so many conflicting elements
in the Bones crowd that it is never organized into a reg-
ular pack, and there is always more doubt as to the
way its elections will turn. The nearest approach to a
pack is when two or three " sure men " take it upon
themselves to persistently "run" another, and make such
a display of their fondness for him as to secure his elec-
tion also. However Bones may allow its action to be
affected indirectly, it will not be dictated to when once
its elections have been made up, and it is useless for a
man to attempt to alter the result by conditionally refus-
ing his election, in favor of or against some particular
classmate. Though the Bones crowd may be pretty
accurately guessed at for some days before the elections
are issued, it is the chances of its individuals which are

t7^ FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

estimated, not of the crowd as such, as in the case of
Keys. There is no such general collusion of all the
members of the Bones crowd ; it is rather made up of
separate cliques of twos and threes, and single individ-
uals, who hope for Bones elections, but have not much
else in common. The fact that elections to this latter
society have been refused in favor of Keys is hence not
very difficult of explanation. A man whose chances
for Bones are rather doubtful may be willing to throw
them away altogether for the sake of the comparatively
" sure thing" which he gains by joining a pack for Keys.
So, receiving an election to Bones, he is in honor bound
to decline it, and cling to the men with whom he had
joined his fortunes. It will be found that all the Bones
refusals in '67 and '70, over which so much ado was
made, came in every case from men previously packed
for Keys. Thus, Bones' greater independence and
ceremoniousness sometimes work to its own disadvan-
tage. A man may go to Keys for the sake of taking a
friend or two with him whose companionship he could
not be sure of were he to become a Bones men ; and in
general one has less uncertainty as to whom he will have
to fraternize with when he packs for the former society.
In a direct comparison of the societies, it is seen that
Bones in reputation, influence and prestige is altogether
superior to its rival ; and it seems almost as certain that
it must always retain this preeminence. It is, in its
main features, essentially unique. No other college
society can show so large a proportion of distinguished
and successful members. It is probably not too much
to add that of the Yale graduates of the past genera-
tion who have attained a fair degree of worldly emin-
ence, nearly half will be found to have been included
within the mystic fifteens of this organization. Its
apparent aim is to secure at once the best of the good

THE SOCIE TY SYSTEM. 1 79

scholars, good literary men, and good fellows; the
former to bring it dignity and " tone," the latter to pre-
serve its social and convivial character ; and its success
in equalizing these three elements — one of which is apt
to predominate in a society — has been remarkable. It
develops in its members, too, a genuine pride and af-
fection, such as they feel in or towards no other society.
Men who are careless and frivolous and selfish as to
everything else, manifest an earnestness and a generosity
where Bones is concerned, that is really surprising. And
this, too, in a way not calculated to attract attention,
nor suggest an appearance of exaggeration or make-
believe. Keys men, on the other hand, are rather given
to displaying their society zeal as much as possible.
Old members who come from abroad to attend the
" bums " are apt to make their presence generally
known, and take pains to exhibit the extent of their
" interest." Their affection for the society is no doubt
genuine enough, but their carefulness in displaying it
suggests the idea that its inspiration comes quite as
much from an oppressive self-consciousness of the need
of "going one better" than Bones, as from the simple
force of pleasant associations. Since the time, say
about i860, when Keys came to be recognized as a
reputable society, settled upon an invariable membership
of fifteen, and ceased to give out any class, secret, or
honorary elections, its policy has seemed to be the
making prominent of the social element, the choosing
of good, jolly fellows, — men of ability if possible, but
at all events congenial and in the college sense of the
word gentlemanly. Ability in the absolute, that is to
say, has been accounted of secondary importance as a
qualification for membership. Upon a strict and more
rigorous adherence to this policy in the future — if it
be worth while to express a prevalent college opinion —

i8o FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

the success of the society will in great measure depend.
In the latter's own chosen field, it can never hope to
seriously rival Bones. To the " solid," thoughtful men
of the class — the big scholars and writers — Bones will
always be the more attractive, and if Keys enters into
competition for them it will as inevitably have to take
up with second-rate representatives of the " heavy,"
" respectable " element, at the same time that, by this
very action, it renders itself less alluring to the " popu-
lar men," who are and should be its "best hold." If,
on the other hand, it has the tact to depart for once
from its Bones model, and set up an independent
standard of qualifications of its own, it may in time
gain in its own particular field a recognized preeminence.
Keys' real " mission," as it seems to an outsider, is to
draw together a genial, gentlem.anly crowd, rather than
an " able " one. If a pleasant, agreeable fellow chances
to be possessed of something more substantial than
popularity, — if besides being a gentleman, he be also a
scholar, a writer, an energetic worker, — he should of
course be all the more desirable ; yet the first mentioned,
more trivial, qualities should be regarded as the essential
ones, after all, which recommend him for election.
Ability, real or reputed, should never of itself elect a
man to Keys. The prestige the society may gain by
taking a man simply for his reputation cannot make up
for what it thereby loses in attractiveness for " popular
men." Keys' great opportunity is, by excluding all
others, to make itself the most desirable society for the
agreeable, jolly fellows in every senior class. If it
resolutely adopts this " lay," it may, with the help of its
hall, ere many years, leave Bones in the lurch, so far as
" popular " men are concerned ; and, by occupying an
independent field, prevent the possibility of direct com-
parisons which must always be to its own disadvantage.

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. 1 8 1

This seems so manifest that nothing but a foolish over-
confidence in its own strength can induce it to engage
in a " straight fight " on Bones' own chosen field, where,
with all the odds against it, it must ever suffer defeat.
Bones, on the other hand, would do well to consider
whether it will be worth its while much longer to take in
men for their popularity and agreeableness simply. It is
just here that it has met with its most humiliating rebuffs
hitherto, and that it is likely to meet with worse ones
hereafter, unless it changes its policy. Four of the
five '70 men who rejected Bones in favor of Keys, were
simply "good fellows," who would have been somewhat
out of their element in the crowd of the former society ;
and the case in the class of '67 was very similar. If
Bones should insist more strongly than now upon ability
as a prime essential in all its members, and upon this
basis, modified by a reasonable regard for social qualities
. and harmoniousness, elect them, it would secure itself
almost absolutely from having an election rejected, as
well as add to its own lasting reputation, — even at the
sacrifice of one of its cherished traditions, which it has
managed to perpetuate thus far on the whole with a
fair share of success. Whether Bones makes this con-
cession with good grace at the outset, or waits to be
forced into it by the success of Keys, when the latter
shall turn all its energies upon this one point, remains
to be seen. But appearances certainly point to the
coming, at no distant day, of what may be termed a
senior society millennium, when Bones and Keys shall
each occupy an undisputed field of its own, and each be
recognized as in its own sphere preeminent ; and when
the only question in a man's mind shall be, " In
which field, on the whole, is supremacy the more desir-
able ? " Then shall the Death's head be, even more
certainly than now, the badge of intellectual superiority

l82 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

in college repute, and the unfolded Scroll be, even more
invariably, the emblem of gentlemanly good fellowship
and social popularity.

It was remarked at the beginning of the chapter that
societies like Bones and Keys would be possible only
at one other college than Yale, and that as a matter of
fact they are peculiar to the latter institution. They
are not, however, without imitators. At Columbia Col-
lege is an " Axe and Coffin" ; at Michigan University an
" Owl and Padlock" ; and at Wesleyan University are
a " Skull and Serpent" and an " Owl and Wand." None
of them are of any importance, and with the possible
exception of the second, are in every way inferior to the
Greek-letter societies connected with their respective
institutions. There is no special difficulty in imitating
the peculiar names and mummeries of the Yale senior
societies, but the gaining of a similar prestige and influ-
ence is quite another matter. It is the high character
of their members, not their names and forms and cer-
emonies, which give the Yale societies their fame. It
was a belief in the power of these latter non-essentials
that induced the Diggers to persist so long in a worse
than hopeless fight. At Yale, the stirictly class societies
of the first three years supply the machinery by which
every class is carefully sifted and its best men are
" brought out" in readiness for the senior societies. Yet
even here, with from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty men to pick from, and the three years' sifting
process reduced almost to an exact science, it has been
absolutely demonstrated that no more than two societies,
of fifteen men each, can exist. Indeed, it was for a
long time a problem whether more than one could live,
and even now the two, to be at their best, must occupy
somewhat different fields. But at other colleges, where
no such class system prevails, where the numbers to

THE SOCilLTY SYSTEM. 183

select from are much smaller, where the competing soci-
eties are more numerous, the attempt to ape Bones and
Keys can succeed in nothing save in making the would-
be societies ridiculous. In view of their real worth, peo-
ple may be willing to overlook the silly practices of the
Yale senior societies ; but when mock mystery and
cheap ceremonials are the only things which a society has
to boast of, it cannot well help falling into contempt.
The statement is therefore again repeated that Bones
and Keys are peculiarly Yale institutions, genuine out-
growths of a system that flourishes nowhere else, the
only organizations of the kind existing in the country.

In concluding this account of the class societies, it
may be well to add a few additional facts that are true
alike of many or all of them, and to compare directly
their general character in the different years. Each
society, save Gamma Nu, has a " grip" of its own, but
society men, in either of the four years, do not generally
employ it in greeting one another. It is not a popular
device with them, and comparitively few would be able,
a year or two after graduation, to give the four different
grips correctly, were they to try. Many of the active
members, even, of these societies cannot remember their
grips without an effort, and in junior year, when visitors
from other chapters are expected, there is need of some
preliminary practice before the guests can be welcomed
in true mysterious fashion. At other colleges the soci-
ety grips are constantly made use of, and when a Yale
man who has forgotten his grip meets an outside
brother he extends his hand with all the fingers sepa-
rated, and returns the grip that he receives, in full faith
that he has given " the right one" and concealed his
ignorance. It is easy enough for an outsider to find
out from someone or other the reputed grips of the
dozen or less societies, and it is more than likely that

184 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

these are really the true ones in many cases. But the
whole matter is made so little of by Yale men that none
of these peculiar hand shakings are worth describing.
In the published report of a recent DKE convention,
that society announced that it had adopted a new grip
and motto, — presumably on account of the discovery of
its old ones, and probably at the instance of the outside
chapters. Whether the changes were really made, or
the announcement offered simply as a "blind," the
result was of course the same. The only two Yale
society mottoes that seem to be unknown to outsiders
are, oddly enough, those of Delta Kap and Theta Psi.
That of the former used to be, /Jea^og Knvquog, and was
as well known as Sigma Eps's is at present, but the one
which superseded it and is now in vogue has been by
some miracle prevented from leaking out. Every junior so-
ciety man can find out without much difficulty the mottoes
and " secrets" of the other societies in his class, but he
feels in duty bound not to make public his knowledge,
and the neutrals are generally in ignorance of these
matters. At Yale, one society never thinks of breaking
into the hall of another, and making public all its mys-
teries, as is the practice at some of the smaller colleges.
It is through these that some of the Yale junior-society
secrets are divulged. Chapters which think it a fine
thing to steal the constitution and documents of as
many rival societies as possible, when they chance to
gain those of societies which are also rivak at Yale, may
forward to their brothers at the latter place their ill-gotten
knowledge : knowledge which the latter are usually hon-
orable enough to keep to themselves. It is only in the
songs of the first two years that the societies mention
the names of their rivals, — to ridicule them, of course,
but in a good natured way. A secret ballot, upon each
candidate separately, in which a single blackball rejects.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 185

is the mode of election in all these societies. Every
society has a janitor whom it allows to wear its badge.
While '69 was in college the same individual was at
once janitor of Delta Kap, Theta Psi and Psi U, and
wore either one of the badges indifferently, though never
displaying two at a time. A senior-society janitor is not
allowed to serve for under-class organizations. The
present Bones janitor is a negro named Robert, who
assists the professors in the experiments at the philosoph-
ical lectures, and is a sort of college supernumerary.
His predecessor, also a black man, died in the service,
and was followed to his grave by the whole Bones soci-
ety, resident graduates, solemn professors, and all. The
societies of the two upper years have boxes at the post
office wherein is placed all mail matter directed either
to their popular or official, trust-association, titles. A
letter directed to either of the lower-class societies is
exposed to view beside the general-delivery window, until
discovered and called for by one of the members. Soci-
ety men as a rule preserve all their badges, — sometimes,
in senior year, mounting their previously gained insignia
in a velvet-lined, ornamental frame or case. Quite a
number of freshman pins are disposed of, however,
when the time for wearing them is past, and some soph-
omore and a very few junior badges go the same way,
but a senior-society pin is kept by its owner until death
doth them part. By other college men their junior-soci-
ety badge, usually the only one they ever possess, is as
a rule always preserved, and is in many cases steadily
worn for some years after graduation. Yale men, who
were senior neutrals, sometimes display their junior
badge, on special occasions, after graduation, but never
the pin of a lower society. When a Freshman leaves
college he usually takes off his society pin, but a Soph-
omore, if a society man, is likely to wear his badge for
some time after his withdrawal.

1 86 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

In taking a general look at the societies of the four
years, the first seems a working ground where Fresh-
men may display their abilities, and induce the Juniors
to pledge them ; the second, a place where these pledged
men as Sophomores may be kept quiet until they are
further inspected, and the poor ones got rid off; the
third, another working ground of narrower limits,
where the select Juniors who have passed safely through
two sifting processes may, by making the most of their
talents before the Seniors, prevail upon the latter to
spare them in the last grand turn of the sieve, and elect
them into the fourth, beyond which there is nothing
higher. It is a fault of the system that each society save
the last is only a stepping stone to the next, and when
the last is reached the time left to enjoy it in is short
indeed. The size of the classes, and the class feeling
thereby engendered, makes any other system impossible,
while the system in turn tends to strengthen and perpet-
rate the class feeling. From his freshman society, a
man usually gains considerable solid advantage, and a
fair amount of pleasure. The direct benefit of a soph-
omore-society experience is not very great, and a man
loses less by being a neutral this year than any other, —
sophomore neutrals being often elected {o senior soci-
eties,— but still, he does lose something, both in a
peculiar sort of " fun," and in general social position.
In a third-year society the advantages are many, and
are of a general as well as local character. The occa-
sions thus afforded for members of different colleges to
fraternize together, the opportunities given for making
pleasant acquaintances at unexpected places, are evi-
dently of considerable value. A man's interest in his
junior society is not as intense or as lasting at Yale as
at other colleges, yet it is altogether greater than that
which he feels toward any lower-class society. One

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 187

Yale graduate would not be apt to claim introduction to
another on the score of belonging to the same junior
society, yet, once acquainted for some other reason, this
fact would form a sort of bond between them. The
attempt to make an outsider realize the overwhelming
fascination, which a senior society exerts upon the mind
of the average Yale undergraduate, would probably be
useless. An election thereto is valued more highly
than any other college prize or honor ; and in fact these
honors derive a good part of their attractiveness from
their supposed efficacy in helping to procure the coveted
election. There is nothing in the wide world that seems
to him half so desirable. It is the one thing needful
for his perfect happiness. And if he fails in gaining it,
the chances are that he becomes a temporary misanthro-
pist, that is to say, an ardent " Stones man." Though
'the advantages of membership are no doubt exaggerated
in anticipation, the real benefit gained in belonging to a
senior society is certainly considerable, — far more valua-
ble, in fact, than that which accrues from membership
in any other. Quite aside from the enjoyment of the
senior year itself, the facts that in after life a man is
thus introduced to the best graduates of the college,
wherever he may meet them, and that, whenever he
visits New Haven, he is sure of being entertained by
the best of the oldest undergraduates, and instructed as
to the doings and whereabouts of the best of his for-
mer classmates, — these facts, other things being equal,
of themselves make membership in a senior society
especially desirable.

College friendships do not at Yale run very closely
in society lines. A pair of friends may be brought to-
gether or separated by almost numberless society com-
binations. They may belong to the same society in
each of the four years, or in the first and last, or in the

1 88 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

second and third, or in none at all, or one may be a so-
ciety man and another a neutral for all the course, and
so on through all the possible permutations. Still, it is
pleasant for friends to keep in the same societies, and
a general tendency of certain crowds to go together,
year after year, has been already remarked upon. No
neutral as such is looked down upon or avoided by so-
ciety men. If the latter usually " run" together, it is
because of similar tastes and proclivities, which would
induce them to do so, were no societies in existence.
In senior year there is hardly a society man without one
or two special friends who are neutrals, and with whom
he has quite as much to do as with his own regular as-
sociates. Such pairs oftener chum together than do
two from rival societies ; though this sometimes happens,
and previous to senior year is not at all uncommon.
Aside from a man's real or reputed ability, good nature,
and popularity, a thing which often helps to elect him
is his relationship to a former or active member of the
society. If a father or an uncle or a brother has pre-
ceeded him, the fact helps him to follow in their foot-
steps, especially if they were in any way famous. An
older brother in the class above, or even one or two
classes removed, is almost certain to secure the election
of a younger one, unless the latter is peculiarly unqual-
ified or obnoxious. This species of favoritism attracts
the most attention in the case of the senior societies,
into which nearly every year, by his relationship with an
older and worthier member, is dragged one man at least
who is without other qualifications sufficient to recom-
mend him. The cases of poor men taken in are, by the
bye, a good deal more common and noticeable than
those of desirable men left out. Every year almost
there is a great show of indignation over the injustice
in the senior-society elections which bring several big

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 189

men to grief, yet it rarely happens that the good policy
of the society in leaving them out is not vindicated
within a twelve month. When fifteen men are to be
shut up together for six successive hours, every week,
and be thrown in with each other constantly, it is essen-
tial that they should be reasonably harmonious if not
congenial ; and an organization whose members should
be chosen for their reputation and ability simply, could
not be in the right sense of the word a society.

Without now discussing whether college opinion al-
ways awards men the positions they deserve, it may be
said, in conclusion, that the society system, viewed as a
means for separating those who, for whatever reason,
are high in college esteem, from those who, for what-
ever reason, are not, must be admitted to be in the main
a fair and successful one. No one can reasonably deny
that it has this effect, and that the society men of every
year are as a class superior in college repute to the
neutrals. It would of course be foolish to judge an in-
dividual solely by his society connections, but it would
be far less foolish than to judge him solely by the num-
ber of prizes, or scholorships, or honors he could lay
claim to, as is not infrequently the practice. To set
up any one arbitrary standard whereby to judge charac-
ter is manifestly unfair, yet, if it is to be done, there is
no single test which embraces so many, in making an
estimate of a Yale man's importance, as his share in
the society system. Blockheads and simpletons cer-
tainly find their way into the senior societies, yet there
are few generalities of the sort deserving of more con-
fidence than these, that in a Bones man you will find
ability and force of character, in a Keys man politeness
and geniality, and in both the most favorable samples
of the Yale graduate of the period,

CHAPTER V.

SOCIETY I N S T I T U T I O N S .

Linonia, and Brothers in Unity — Their Origin and Early History —
Rivah-y in Gaining INIembers — The Statement of Facts — The
Campaign, a Dozen Years Ago — The Rush — Latest Modes of
Distributing the Freshmen — Initiation — Meetings and Exercises
— Exhibitions — Officers, Politics, and the Campaign Election —
Attendance — Management of the Finances — The Society Halls
— Catalogues — Libraries — Reading Room — The College Book-
store— The Prize Debates — Annual and Centennial Celebrations
— Analysis of the Society Tax — Calliope and Phoenix — Phi Beta
Kappa — Its Origin and Peculiar Organization — Names of the
Chapters — Meetings and Exercises — Orations and Poems — Qual-
ifications for Membership — An Invasion of Barbarians — The
Society Badge Key — Initiation — The Annual Business Meeting
— Catalogues — Significance of the Fraternity — Chi Delta Theta
— Its Literary Character — The Present Wearers of its Badge.

Some of the societies which were the precursors of
the modern S3^stem still have a sort of semi-animate
existence in the college, in the form of mere " institu-
tions," and they, and the customs springing from them,
are therefore all described here under that general title.
The first, both in age, reputation and importance are
the societies of "Linonia" and "Brothers in Unity."
Except where great formality is required, the latter title
is always abbreviated to " Brothers " ; and each mem-
ber of the society was called a " Brother." Each mem-
ber of the " Linonian Societ\-," as the favorite cere-
monious name for it used to be, was termed a " Lino-
nian." These titles are rarely used of late, and a man
is simply said to " belong to " Linonia or Brothers, as
the case may be. Both are spoken of indifterently as

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. 1 9 1

the literary, the large, the open, the general, or the
college societies, — the comparative frequency of the
names perhaps being in the order given. I.inonia was
founded September 12, 1753. Of the class which grad-
uated that year, numbering 17 in all, one only belonged
to the society. He was the seventeenth on the list — the
names at that time being arranged according to the
" gentility " of the families they represented, instead of
alphabetically — and his name was William Wickham.
Besides this, little more ig known concerning him, save
that he afterwards took his Master's degree, lived on
Long Island, and died in 1813. According to repute,
he was the founder of the society, and its first chan-
cellor,— that being the name applied to the president up
to the year 1789. In the first 15 classes (1753-67),
Linonia had 150 of the 400 men who graduated, or
an average of 10 to a class, — the highest number being
16, and the lowest, after the first class, 4. Of the 250
not included in its catalogue, it is likely that a large
portion were members of " Crotonia," a rival society
which had been for some time in existence when
Linonia was founded, but w'hich must have died out
within 15 years thereafter.

Brothers was founded in 1768, by 21 individuals in
the four classes '68, "'69, '70, and '71, — seven being
upper-class men who seceded from Linonia, and
the remaining 14 being Freshmen, who were of course
neutrals, as in those days of servitude no Freshmen
were ever admitted to any society whatever. Oliver
Stanley of %Z^ the first president of Brothers, was said
by tradition to have been the founder of the society,
and was so mentioned in the eulogy pronounced at the
time of his death in 1813. But the popular hero of the
affair was David Humphreys of '71, "who stood up
for the dignity of his class ; and having found two

192 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Seniors, three Juniors and two Sophomores, who were
willing that Freshmen might be admitted to a literary
society, he, with thirteen of his classmates fought for
and established their own respectability." He was
afterwards a colonel in the Revolution, served as aid-
de-camp and secretary to Washington, fought bravely at
Yorktown, presented to Congress the British colors sur-
rendered by Cornwallis, and was awarded " an elegant
sword " by direct vote of that body. He was dubbed
LL.D. by both Brown and Dartmouth, was Fellow of
the Royal Society, and ambassador to Spain. He died
in 1818. Of the 19 who graduated in his class, 15
were Brothers and 4 were Linonians. In the class of
'75 the corresponding figures were 3 and 33. And so
it changed about, one society being specially success-
ful in some years, the other in others ; but the disparity
was not usually as great as in the cases indicated, and
in most years the classes were about equally divided.
Hence, in the 33 classes, 1768 to 1800, Linonia claimed
560 and Brothers 569 men, all of whom were said to be
graduates; but as only mo men graduated from col-
lege in the interval, and some few of these in the earlier
classes remained neutrals, several of the non-graduates
must have remained upon the lists. It may be noted
that the class ('68) which founded -Brothers was the first
whose names in the college catalogue were arranged
alphabetically.

The exclusion of Freshmen from Linonia seems
to have been the only attempt ever made at select-
ness in membership, — all who applied for admis-
sion in sophomore year or afterwards having been,
apparently, welcomed to the fold. As soon as Brothers
had established the precedent, of course Linonia was
obliged to elect Freshmen also, and the two societies
soon settled down into an annual strife to decide which

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 193

should gain the largest number of each incoming class.
As the average number obtained by each was about
equal, in 1801 it was agreed that all new comers should
be allotted in alphabetical order to the two societies, —
the first man on the list going to Linonia, the second
to Brothers, the third to Linonia, the fourth to Brothers,
and so on to "Z," or the end of the class. It happened
that John C. Calhoun of '04 was allotted to Linonia, but
refused to join that society, as most of the Southerners
went to Brothers ; and hence both societies have claimed
him as a member until this day. Doubtless an arrange-
ment was effected whereby two men allotted to different
societies could exchange places, if they cared to, but
the system of alphabetical distribution remained in
vogue until the year 1830. Then, open war was once
more declared, and each society again began to plead
its cause before each freshman class. The custom
known as " Statement of Facts " was now introduced.
In theory, and perhaps originally in reality, the plan
was as follows : On the first or second Wednesday of
the college year, the entire freshman class was invited
to a public hall, and there addressed by the president,
senior orator, and junior orator of each society, on the
relative merits and advantages of the two organizations ;
and at the close of the speeches, each freshman was
called upon to indicate, the society of his choice. Such
Was the theory, which, if ever practised in all its sim-
plicity, was not long in becoming a mere farce, owing
to the campaign meetings, and electioneerings, and
pledgings, which preceded the Statement of Facts.
The mode in which the freshman societies now gain
their members is the same as that formerly used for
recruiting Linonia and Brothers. The lesser campaign
has simply superseded the greater, and the description
already given of it will in most points apply well enough
10

194 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

to the latter ; but it may be well to quote from an
account written in 1859 of the way in which the large
societies were accustomed to manage affairs :

" The campaign of warfare commences with the fourth
week of the summer term, when the campaign presidents
are chosen for the new senior class, and the new
sophomore class — which is to bear the brunt of the
battle — is marshalled for the fight. The officers, on
whom falls the personal responsibility of victory or
defeat, remind them, with serious earnestness, of the
great responsibility which has fallen on their shoulders ;
they tell them that they are carrying into the contest
the banner that has long waved in victory over their
old fraternity ; that thousands are waiting anxiously to
see if its folds, as of yore, are still to wave in honor and
glory, or whether they are to droop in ignominy and
shame before the foe who have so often cowered before
them ! But they by no means trust merely to nicely
worded speeches. The class is thoroughly organized
for the battle. The labor is divided and sub-divided as
far as the interests of the campaign demands. General
committees, and special committees of correspondence,
are appointed to find out by every means in their
power who are coming into the next freshman class and
whence. To the larger academies, and usual tributaries
of the college, special electioneerers are sent, and skir-
mishes are fought long before the main battle begins in
New Haven. Meantime, the weekly meetings are the
occasions of enthusiastic speeches, the subjects of which
are the history and glory of one society, and the faults
imaginary or real of the other. As the battle thickens,
the cohorts increase in activity and enthusiasm. The
committees for the Tontine Hotel and the New Haven
House scan closely the journal of names, and follow to
his room every suspicious-looking youth. The steam-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 195

boat committee are on duty at five in the morning and
at eight at night. The depot committee grow hardened
to their work, lay aside all gentlemanly feeling, and
pounce upon the unwary. The railroad committees ride
from New Haven to Springfield, to Guilford, to Bridge-
port, and New York. They endeavor to make them-
selves agreeable to any fellow travelers, provided they
be young, and look haggard, in view of some specter
like an approaching examination. The room committee
report the items of knowledge that they have culled in
a careful survey of every tree and dilapidated building
around the college, to headquarters, to be put in imme-
diate requisition, should any Freshman desire a night's
abode. With such an array of preparation on both
sides, the harmless Freshman runs a poor chance of
escaping the fiery ordeal. Many come pledged to join
one or the other society, and over them there is of
course no struggle. Others fall into the hands of one
party only, and any access to them is denied the other
until they shall have decided. But to those whose
destiny throws them into a crowd of contending Sopho-
mores, in the dark and smoky cavern, called the New
Haven depot, especially if the least sign of indecision
or perplexity is perceptible, there is no longer hope of
rest or quiet or comfort ; not even liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness being allowed them until they decide
the momentous question.

" During the days of examination for admission to
college, and a few days previous, the societies put forth
their utmost energies, and instead of meetings once a
week they are held two and three times a day. For
every Freshman that enters the hall, speeches must be
made, to recount the incomparable history, the superior
prize-lists, the immense advantages of this society over
its rival. The work of the officers and of the various

196 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

committees is at this time exceedingly laborious, and
would never be undertaken were it not for the personal
honor attending it ; and would never be completed were
it not for the enthusiasm which the contest always
inspires. The enthusiasm is undoubtedly real, and
although the fight is renewed from year to year, the
same notes rung, the same old story told, from meeting
to meeting, there is music in these notes and a strength
in that story which, especially to a class for the first
time engaging in those scenes, is stirring and effective.
The vociferous applause which is given to the speeches,
the hearty greeting with which every new-comer is met,
shows the presence of unbounded enthusiasm.

"There are comparatively few who come to college
without a knowledge of the system of electioneering.
Most are prepared for it. But even then, if they have
not decided, they cannot remain free from interruption,
unless at all hours they lock their doors and demand
freedom. Some, however, arrive at New Haven before
they know even of the existence of such societies.
Their ignorance affords opportunities for successful mis-
representations and cunning duplicity, of which many
take advantage. The temptation, coming together with
the excitement of the campaign is greatly increased.
The contest is generally decided before the second week
of the fall term. At the close of the first week, when
there is scarcely one who has not already joined one or
the other society, is repeated the annual farce of what
was once a Statement of Facts in behalf of each
society, by appointed orators. It is now rather a field
for the display of empty eloquence and skill at repartee.
Any distortion of facts which seems, to confound their
opponents, or to turn the laugh upon them is considered
as the most acceptable part of the proceeding. The
Freshmen, for whose cnli2;htenmcnt the exercises are

nil': sociE TV systeh/. 1 9 7

specially intended, attend in mass. A general struggle
with the Sophomores — whose duty, now that electioneer-
ing is no longer necessary, tradition says, is to
prevent the Freshmen getting into the hall without first
taking off their hats — is the first thing on the programme.
They then take the seats that are reserved for them,
with fragments of their hats in their hands, and of their
coats on their backs, amid a yelling, screeching and
cheering which is perfectly indescribable. After their
indignation against the Sophomores has cooled down,
they begin to applaud almost continually their own and
hiss the orators of the rival society. At the close of
the meeting, the students adjourn to the halls of their
respective societies, where the result of the campaign is
officially proclaimed. One society celebrates a jubilee :
the other waits for a 'better time coming.' "

Brewster's Hall was the usual place of holding the
" Statement," but Union Hall served instead on at least
one occasion, and in 186 1, the last time any such meet-
ing was held, the faculty granted the use of Alumni
Hall. The " rush " attendant upon this celebration
seems to have been regarded as in some sense a sub-
stitute for the old Foot-Ball Game, and both seem to
have degenerated into the common street rushes of to-
day. The meeting of i860 was thus described: "It
began of course with the usual abominable ' rush.'
Defiant Sophomores dared hopeful Freshmen to 'come
on.' They did so. They sopped each other in the
gutter, crunched each other's toes, and, when they got
tired, adjourned up stairs ; the Freshmen to look atten-
tive and listen to the arguments offered by the societies,
the Sophomores to look depraved and throw beans at
nearly everybody except the speakers. Seven o'clock,
post meridian, was the hour for reassembling. The
Sophomores looked as wicked as ever, and the Fresh-

198 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

men as hopeful as ever. Again the initiatory plunge,
again the wallow in the gutter, again the tugging, strain-
ing, button-bursting operations, and then they all crowd
into seats and listen to the remainder of the story each
society is anxious to tell."

In 1859 an unsuccessful attempt was made to bring
both societies to an agreement, whereby all private
electioneering should be done away with and no Fresh-
man should be pledged to either society, until the close
of the Statement of Facts, when each should signify
the one of his choice. The campaign meetings (jf each
society were to be held on alternate evenings, and the
society which had the last meeting, was to give up to
the other the first chance for speaking at the Statement.
This plan was adopted on the following year, and per-
haps in 1861 also; but for the next four years there-
after there was open war again ; and the only thing at
all resembling a Statement of Facts, was a gathering in
one of the society halls, where the two presidents
.simply announced the official figures of the campaign, —
the result being of course received with tremendous
cheering and enthusiasm by the partisans of the vic-
torious society. The Sophs, as of old, v/aited_ outside
to rush the Fresh who might try to attend ; but the
faculty probably interfered with the sport, for when '69
— which was the last class electioneered — entered college
in 1865, there was no attempt at a rush, nor was it
generally known among the Freshmen when the final
results of that last campaign were proclaimed.

For the next two years, the new-comers were distrib-
uted alphabetically between the two societies, and
allowed to " pair off " in cases when they had any prefer-
ence. In 1868, this plan was somewhat modified by the
introduction of a sort of travesty on the old Statement
of Facts. Eight orators, two from each of the two

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 199

upper classes in each society, were appointed to make
as ludicrous speeches as possible in regard to the " mer-
its of the societies." In the old times, statements
utterly without foundation in fact were common enough,
but they were earnestly made, with the intention of mis-
leading and deceiving the Freshmen, and the speakers
did not ridicule their own societies. Now, the speeches
all take their point from their simple absurdity, and
want of purpose. Everything that is said, whether of
praise or censure, is spoken ironically, and accepted as a
joke by the upper-class men who know how dead the
societies are. The Freshmen also laugh with the rest,
without exactly knowing the reason why. At the close
of the addresses, they are called upon to join one society
or the other, and those who are not present — that is, a
large majority of the class — are distributed alphabeti-
cally, as before. Though there is no regular " rush,"
the Sophs annoy the Fresh in coming up the stairway —
the meeting being held in one of the society halls — and
interrupt proceedings generally, by snapping beans about
the hall, and making other diversions of a similar char-
acter. The two upper classes, especially the Juniors,
respond to the president's calls for "order" by attempt-
ing to eject from the hall some disorderly Sophomore ;
whereupon the classmates of the latter rally to his
defence, and a wild tumult ensues, — the result of which
is that most of the Sophomores are forcibly thrust out
and the door locked behind them. In revenge for this
indignity, they smash the windows of the hall, and raise
discordant outcries, while their comrades who were left
inside loudly clamor for their readmittance. At last
they are allowed to enter again, and the " exercises" pro-
ceed as before.

The form of initiation in vogue when '69 entered col"
lege was for each new-comer to assent to the pledge of

I.

2 00 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

fidelity to the society — thereby promising to be " true to
its interests and faithful to its secrets" — and sign his
name in a book supposed to contain its constitution.
The pledge was read oif by the president, and three
cheers were proposed by him or some other member for
each one as he signed his name, A good part of each
freshman class joined during the progress of the cam-
paign meetings, and as some of them were unable to
pass their entrance examinations, the lists of each soci-
ety very often contained names of men never actually
belonging to the college. The same fact is still true of
the freshman societies, — one or two men who never
" make up their conditions" being initiated into them
almost every year. Now-a-days, a large share of college
never formally join either Linonia or Brothers, although
in the Banner and Pot Pourri the letter "L." or " B."
is still prefixed to every name, to indicate membership in
one or the other of them. Formerly the Banner gave
each society separately, though arranged as now in
classes. Nobody now cares which society he is assigned
to ; and few, when asked, can readily tell which, without
reference to a catalogue. No one ever pretends to re-
member the open-society connections of any one save
himself; and often in the making up of a joint commit-
tee, a man is appointed to represent one society when
he really belongs to another, and perhaps he may even
fulfil his duties without discovering the mistake.

It was perhaps during the first third of the present
century that the societies saw their best days. The time
when they came together was thought the gala night of
all the week, and all classes met then on a footing of
perfect equality, — though the Seniors naturally took the
lead in affairs, and the Freshmen were for the most part
interested spectators rather than actors. The literary
efforts of the latter were mostlv confined to their own

The society system. 201

class society or debating club, which held fortnightly
meetings in one of the recitation rooms, had little organ-
ization and no name, and was disbanded at the close of
the year, — the freshman clubs of no two successive
classes having any connection with each other. Fifty
years ago, when the general societies were absolutely
secret, it was thought a great — as it was an infrequent
— triumph for a man to find out the name of the presi-
dent or other officers in a rival society. About a third
of the members regularly attended the meetings ; as
many more went to the halls half of the time, and the
remainder frequented them only occasionally. Attend-
ance was not compulsory, except to fulfil appointments,
and an " excusing committee" passed judgment on all
excuses, ait the close of each meeting. They reported
to the librarians the names of those who refused to pay
their fines, and the librarians in turn forbid such delin-
quent the privileges of the library until the claims of
the society were satisfied. Brothers was nicknamed
" the Cider Mill" by the men of Linonia, because it was
said to conduct its debates strictly according to the cat-
alogue,— obliging each man to speak in his " turn" as
the alphabet had arranged it, and allowing no voluntary
efforts outside this regular order.

Originally the societies were strictly secret, as already
stated, and as late as 1840 none but members were ex-
pected to attend their meetings, save by formal invita-
tions on special occasions, but for fifteen or twenty years
past all college has been at liberty to frequent either
hall, as much or as little as has seemed good to it.
The ordinary meetings are held every Wednesday even-
ing of the term, beginning at eight o'clock,— the hour
of assembling being indicated by a ringing of the col-
lege bell. The chief feature of these exercises is a
debate between four appointed disputants, two of them

i02 'FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

speaking on each side, on some question chosen by them
or the president, three or four weeks previously. This
debate is also "sustained" by as many impromptu speak-
ers as can be induced to volunteer. Besides this, there
are occasional essays, orations and poems. On " elec-
tion nights," when the debate is suspended, an unusually
good oration or poem is looked for, and "the other soci-
ety" is often formally invited to hear it, — which invita-
tion it as ceremoniously accepts or declines. The pres-
ent tense is here employed, for the sake of convenience,
to describe the state of things existing when '69 entered
college, and still kept up in theory. As a matter of
fact, no such meetings are now held. Sometimes a
crowd of a dozen or fifteen chance together in one of
the halls of a Wednesday evening, and hold any kind
of ex-tempore exercises they may happen to think of
Often no one goes to the halls at all. P>en the posters
are not often seen now, and are never read or regarded.
Formerly, almost every tree in the college yard had its
red (Linonia) and blue (Brothers) posters tacked to it each
Tuesday morning. On these were indicated the ques-
tion for debate for the next meeting, with the names of
the speakers, the names of the orator, essayist, etc., and
the names of those appointed to speak at future meet-
ings. A special notice of the time and nature of his
appointment used also to be sent to each individual.

A custom which doubtless saw its best days within
the fifteen or twenty years following 1825, was the giv-
ing of occasional " exhibitions," in which each society
endeavored to surpass the other. The chief features of
each of these "exhibitions" consisted of a dramatic
poem, a tragedy, and a comedy, all written for the oc-
casion by members of the society. These were never
printed, but the " fragments of unpublished dramas,"
occasionallv to be met with in the earlier volumes of the

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 203

X//., give some notion of their quality. Except for the
smaller type, the programmes resembled ordinary play-
bills, being printed on one side of narrow strips of
paper, sometimes two feet in length. The names of the
two " managers" appeared at the foot of them. Some-
times the true names of the actors were printed, and
sometimes their fancy titles only. Each society accu-
mulated quite a wardrobe of costumes, which it dis-
played to the Freshmen as an electioneering argument ;
though the dresses were really common property, as
each borrowed from the other. It is said that the fac-
ulty finally put an end to these "exhibitions," on the
ground of their engrossing too much attention from the
students.

The society offices — of president and vice-president
in the senior class, secretary in the junior class, and
vice-secretary in the sophomore class — used to be con-
sidered high honors, and were sharply contested for.
Originally the officers served for a year, afterwards for
a term, while for the past thirty years or more they have •
been chosen five times annually. A wide field was
thus spread open for the practise of junior-society poli-
tics, and the wranglings over the elections were protracted
and bitter. The office of campaign president or one
first chosen from each senior class — the Juniors being
recognized as Seniors within the meaning of the regula-
tion, and the other two classes proportionate advanced,
on the evening of the campaign election — was the special
object of ambition, being considered the highest general
elective honor of the college. All of the minor " cam-
[paign offices" were more eagerly sought for than the
same positions at subsequent elections. Hence the
amount of political intrigue, and wire-pulling, and log-
rolling, expended in deciding the first election in these
two societies was almost fabulous. The three lower

204 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

classes were vitally interested in the matter, for each
had a share in the spoils, and a vice-secretaryship might
be as valuable in taking one man to Sigma Phi as a
presidency in taking another man to Bones or Keys.
The bargains and coalitions and combinations and
cross-combinations made between the six junior and
freshman societies were therefore all but innumerable,
and far surpassed in intricacy anything now possible,
when each class has its own independent politics. The
class-society connections of the candidates seem always
to have been considered, though it was only for the
campaign election that formal coalitions were made.
The mode of voting on that occasion was as follows :
First, " the Seniors" were called for, and each member
of the junior class, as his name was read, in alphabetical
order, stepped forward and cast his ballot ; then " the
Juniors'' were called, and the Sophomores voted ; then,
instead of calling "the Sophomores," "the Freshmen"
were called for. Upon this, the Fresh would shriek,
yell and hiss, until the secretary, correcting his " mis-
take" would address them as " Sophomores," when,
with tremendous cheering and enthusiasm; the Fresh-
men would in turn march to the ballot-box. Should
the first Fresh on the list be unaware of the trick, and
start forward to vote at the first calling of his name as
" a Freshman," he would be dragged back by his more
watchful comrades, and the storm of hisses would grow
terrific until the coveted name of " Sophomore" was
announced. Printed blanks for voting were provided
by the society ; but regular ballots, with the names of
their candidates indicated in full, were usually supplied
by the rival factions.

The vice-president was expected to sit in a chair at
the side of the president, and was usually elected his
successor. The secretary seems to have been a sort of

THE SOCIE TY SYSTEM. 205

ornamental officer, for all his work was performed by
the vice-secretary, who sat at a table in front of the
president's desk. The " censor" was an officer peculiar
to Brothers, and perhaps used to read an occasional
critique on the proceedings of the society. From this
seems to have originated the comic " censor's report''
of the Thanksgiving Jubilee. Now-a-days, the offices
are filled by default, and any one who chooses to take a
half-dozen friends with him to the hall on election night
can have whatever one of them he may want. Who
the officers may be, college in general neither knows
nor cares ; and they are all regarded with a mild sort
of derision in the rare cases when they are thought of
at all. Each society, with a nominal membership of
250, used to consider an ordinary meeting well attended
when a tenth of that number were present. This was
in the first of '69 's four years : in the last, for a twen-
tieth of the members to frequent the hall was considered
extraordinary. The quorum needed to adopt the con-
stitutional changes establishing a reading-room was only
got together after repeated attempts, although the pro-
ject was favored by every one. No quorum has assem-
bled since' then, and it is hardly probable that another
will ever be drawn together. Up to i860, a treasurer
was included among the society officers, and the funds
were managed by direct vote of its members. At that
time the faculty were induced to have the college treas-
urer made tax-collector, and since then a society tax of
$6 — increased in 1867 to $8 — a year has been assessed,
in three equal instalments, upon the official term-bills.
In the old times, about a third of the society dues were
never collected, but now no undergraduate can shirk
paying his " society tax" without defying "the president
and fellows of Yale College," in whose name it is col-
lected. Save for this arrangement, the societies, even

2o6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

as " institutions," would have ceased to exist, by the re-
fusal of new-comers to join them or pay any money in
their behalf. The $400 now annually collected in their
names is expended under the direction of the assistant
treasurer of the college.

The two society halls are in the upper story of the
Alumni Hall building, and are of exactly the same size
and shape, — measuring 50 by 25 feet, and 25 feet in
hight. Both are handsomely furnished, though per-
haps that of Brothers presents the most elegant appear-
ance,— the upholstery and hangings being of blue, the
society's color. The walls are also frescoed, and a large
painting in which Col. Humphreys forms the chief fig-
ure hangs above the president's desk. In Linonia the
seats are arranged in the form of a semi-circle, rising
one above the other. Two life-size marble statues —
the one of Demosthenes, the other of Sophocles — stand
in the corners. They are copies of the antique, and
were executed at Rome in 1858, by E. S. Bartholomew,
especially for the society. It has long been a standing
joke in college that no one is able to tell " which is
which." As a set-off to the statues, Brothers appropri-
ated a large sum of money in behalf of the ^' Pilgrims'
Monument " at Plymouth, and a small bronze copy
of the same stands upon its president's desk. Before
taking possession of its present quarters in 1852, Lino-
nia had rented a hall on Chapel street, in the third story
of the building opposite the college yard, for nearly
fifty years. In this hall, which is now the Courant com-
posing room, this book was put in type. Brothers hall
used to be further down Chapel, in Glebe Building, cor-
ner of Church street. During the last century, the so-
cieties had no halls of their own, but met in the various
recitation rooms and other general resorts.

Catalogues of their members were first published in

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. 207

1841. The names were arranged alphabetically by
classes, and repeated in an index like that of the college
triennial catalogue. Residences and the various honor-
ary titles and achievements of members were indicated,
and the society presidents were also noted. The
Brothers catalogue contained in addition a special list of
these, in the order of their succession. Each catalogue
made a pamphlet of about ninety pages and was printed
by Hitchcock & Stafford. The second one of Brothers
(1854) also came from the same press. It contained a
steel-engraved view of Alumni Hall, and was bound in
a blue paper cover. The second of Linonia was printed
by Baker, Godwin & Co. of New York, in 1853, to
celebrate its one hundredth anniversary. Each society
professed to publish the names of none save its graduate
members, and — though the rule was somewhat infringed
upon — its total membership was by this means reduced
at least one fourth. Neither were lists printed of the
*' honorary members," elected from the world at large,
and estimated to comprise in each case from five hun-
dred to a thousand individuals. The necessary errors
were many, but besides these each society charged the
other with the commission of many intentional ones.
The motto of Linonia was, Quiescii in perfedo ; of
Brothers, E parvis oriuntiir magna. The former society
once boasted of a watch-key badge, consisting of a thin
gold plate, heart shaped, on one side of which was en-
graved " Linonia, Sept. 12, 1753," and on the other, in
five separate designs, a dove, a swan, a dog, a phcenix,
and a library of books. This design — in connection
with the motto, Amicitta, concordia, soli noscitnus — also
formed a part of the illuminated book-label, for many
years employed.

The accumulation of books seems to have been
begun at a very early period. In the last catalogue of

2o8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the Linonia library — printed in i860 by J. H. Benham,
and comprising 300 octavo pages — the number of
volumes named was 11,300, and subsequent additions
make the present number 13,300. " In 1770 there were
stated to be nearly 100 volumes; in 1780, 152; in
1790^ 330; ii^ 1800, 475 ; in 1811, 724; in 1822, 1187;
ii^ 1831,3505; in 1837, 5581; in 1841, 7500; and in
1846, 10,103." Brothers' last catalogue, of the same
size as Linonia's, was printed in July, 185 1, by T. J.
Stafford, and contained a steel-engraved view of the
Library building. It mentioned 11,652 volumes, while
its present number is 13,400. ^'The old catalogues
show the number of books at successive periods to have
been as follows: in 1781, 163 ; in 1808, 723 ; in 1818,
937 ; in 1825, 1730 ; in 1832, 3562 ; in 1835, 4565 ; in
1838, 6078; and in 1846, 9140." Brothers occupies the
north wing of the Library building, and Linonia the
south, and originally there were no inner passage ways
between the wings and the main building. In i860, by
vote of the societies and consent of the faculty, the
partitions were cut through and connecting doors in-
serted. This seems to have been considered as an
essential part of the plan of having the college librarian's
assistants act as librarians for the societies, though
these inner passage-ways are never made use of now.
Up to the time referred to, the librarians had been
active members of the societ-ies, and received no return
for their services save the " honor," and possibly the
fines they were able to collect. Since then, resident
graduates, usually Theologues, have been employed on a
salary, at first quite small, but now increased to $225
per annum. Each of these librarians has two Seniors
as assistants, who are also paid $75 a year for their
services. The libraries are open for the drawing of
books for the half-hour succeeding dinner every after-

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 209

noon, and during this time, according to the old plan,
no one save the officers was allowed " behind the rail-
ing." Each man attached his name to a slip of paper
on which he had marked the numbers of the desired
books, and these slips were attended to by the assist-
ants, in the order in which they were handed to the
librarian. More recentfy the plan has been adopted of
allowing those who wish to themselves select their
books from the shelves. By an arrangement adopted
in 1848, every member of either society can draw four
volumes at a time from each of the libraries. Resident
graduates are allowed the same privileges ; and honorary
members can also draw their eight volumes daily, on pay-
ment of a fee of one dollar a term. For an hour succeeding
the time of taking out books — and of course, under the
recent plan, during that half-hour also — the libraries are
kept open " for consultation," and the alcoves and inner
seats are made accessible to everyone. This opportunity
for consultation was first given in i860, and until within
a few years the consultation hour was in the forenoon.
Before the present edifice was built, the society libraries
were stored in the Athenceum. Formerly, it was cus-
tomary for every member as he graduated to give at
least one book to his society library, as in duty bound,
but now the additions are all made by purchase.

The college reading-room is another thing, carried on
by the faculty, in the name of the dead societies. The
attempt to organize something of the sort had been
often made without result. About the time that '69 en-
tered college, a joint committee from the two societies
reported in favor of combining the two libraries, and
using the vacated building as a reading-room, but noth-
ing was done to carry out the plan. Another proposal
was to use the Calliope hall for the purpose ; while
newspaper writers called for the surrender of one of the

210 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

vacant rooms in the Art Building. Finally, a petition,
calling upon the faculty " to take immediate steps for
the establishment of a reading-room," was circulated
and very generally signed, which resulted in the arrange-
ment whereby the faculty promised to provide a reading
room, and the societies to supply the money to carry it
on. The four middle rooms 'on the ground floor of
South Middle were accordingly made into one by the
tearing away of the partitions, and an enclosure for the
College Bookstore was built in the middle of it. The
doors on the west were fastened but the other two were
left open, and with new floor, plaster, paper, and paint,
the old quarters were transformed into a very respectable
reading-room, which was first opened with the summer
term of 1867. Upon a fixed desk or rack, extending
about the sides of the room, are kept the files of about
25 daily newspapers, and a dozen weekly journals like
the Saturday Rejnew and Nation, as well as Punch and
the Illustrated News. High stools are provided for
those who do not wish to stand while consulting the files.
Some 30 reviews and magazines, and as many more
religious periodicals, may be obtained on application at
what was formerly the Bookstore window, and must be
returned there by the applicant before leaving the room.
On Sundays, all the newspaper and other " secular" lit-
erature is locked up, and the " religious" papers and
magazines are spread out upon the tables. All in all,
there are about 120 different periodicals. The newspa-
pers are kept on the files for about a week, and are then
piled in the Treasurer's office, and are ultimately sold
for waste-paper. The magazines and more important
periodicals are bound and placed in the society libra-
ries. These magazines had been taken by the societies
before the reading-room was established, but were never
accessible to the students except in the form of bound

THE SOCIE TV S VS TEM. 2 1 1

volumes, that is, until they were six months or a year
old. An indigent Senior is employed to take charge of
the reading-room, open and close it at the specified hours,
— eight in the morning and ten at night, — give out the
magazines from the office-window, and attend to the
keeping of the files. This work was formerly performed
by the proprietor of the College Bookstore, in consider-
ation of paying no rent. A committee of three from the
faculty decide what periodicals to purchase, and have
the annual spending of $1000, — the " society tax" being,
by constitutional amendment, increased from $6 to $8
per member on account of the reading-room. It should
be remarked that all the " religious" literature is sup-
plied by the Yale Missionary Society. The reading-
room is a very popular resort both for readers and for
loungers, and is a much frequented rendezvous during
the half-hour preceeding recitation time. The largest
crowds of actual readers assemble there immediately
after dinner and supper, though there are few hours in
the twelve when it is entirely deserted. Few but under-
graduates make use of it, and those few rarely pay any-
thing for the privilege, though an admission fee is nom-
inally required of them. The room is lighted with gas,
well heated, supplied with tables, chairs, settees, etc.,
but has no carpet or other covering upon its floor. Its
forerunner was a rack, beside the bowling alleys in the
basement of the Gymnasium, upon which were filed a
half-dozen daily newspapers, which the faculty paid for.
The College Bookstore, though combined with the
reading-room, did not spring into existence at the same
time with it, but had led an independent life for quite a
number of years. Doubtless some of the poorer stu-
dents had attempted to turn an honest penny by selling
text books before that time, but the first mention made
of college booksellers was in the fall of 1851, when a

2 12 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Senior, in North, and a Theologuc, in Divinity, opened
their rooms to "the trade." On the following summer,
the latter sold out to Pliny F. Warner of '55, who seems
to have been the real founder of the Bookstore, for
though he disposed of its "good w-ill" three or four
times in the interval, he was called back to the rescue
when the concern was in trouble, and so may be said to
have " run" it for five years, or until 1857, when he fi-
nally sold out to a Sophomore of '60. The latter
remained proprietor until graduation, when a '61 man
bought it and held it for two years, after which time all
the owners were Theologues until 1868, when it was
bought by a '70 man, who, when he graduated, sold out
to Charles C. Chatfield & Co., and so put an end to it
as a college institution. The " store," migrating first to
17 South, and then to 155 Divinity, finally reached 34
South Middle in 186 1, and remained in that locality —
after 1867 as the central feature of the reading-room —
until its final absorption, in the fall of 1870. Various
city booksellers had often tried to crush the enterprise,
by underselling, and by calling their own. establishments
" college bookstores," '' student's bookstores," " Yale
bookstores," and the like, but the students generally
looked upon their own institution as a protection against
monopolists, and rallied to its support. Previous to
1867, the proprietor of the Bookstore performed all the
work himself, and kept his shop open only at certain stated
intervals eachday ; but, after that, a clerk was employed,
whose office hours corresponded with those of the read-
ing-room, and the business of the concern was enlarged
so as to include not only the selling of text books and
stationery, and the delivery of the college jDrints and
periodicals, but the selling of miscellaneous books and
publications, and the delivery of newspapers, photo-
graphs, etc., of every sort. In short, it had become

THE SOCIE TV S YSTEM. 2 1 3

transformed into a general bookstore and news agency,
and was monopolizing a good share of the reading-room's
space, and was making itself a public nuisance, when
it was ordered "out of the college limits, and passed into
the hands of its present proprietors, whose establish-
ment is on Chapel street, opposite the college yard. It
is still advertised as the " College Bookstore." For a
year after the establishment of the reading-room, a
branch post-office was connected' with the Bookstore,
the "boxes" whereof were rented for a dollar each,
or one half the price of those in the general office.
Among other advantages, the branch office was kept
open two hours later in the evening than the other ; but
all who wished to make use of the branch were obliged
to secure boxes, as there was no "general delivery" in
connection with it. The office grew in popularity, and
at the beginning of the second year the number of boxes
was doubled ; but just then word came from the depart-
ment at Washington that the establishment was con-
trary to the official regulations, and so it was abandoned
forthwith — and an after attempt to resuscitate it was in
vain. Though New Haven has a "free delivery," the
carriers will not deliver letters to the colleges, even
when directed to particular rooms, and hence the stu-
dents who room in college are obliged to rent boxes, as
a large portion of them do, or frequent the lobby of
the "general delivery."

The Prize Debates, now held under the auspices of
the two societies, are about the only reminders of their
former " literary " character. The introduction of these
superseded the idea of a " Test Debate," which it had
been attempted to establish at about that time, as a
means of deciding the question of literary superiority
among the rival societies. The present system was
inaugurated by William D. Bishop of '49, who, a year

214 FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

after graduation, presented Linonia with $1000 in 7 per
cent railroad bonds, the interest of which was to be
divided into two first prizes of $25, a second prize of
$15, and a third prize of $5, for the encouragement of
debate in the two lower classes. One of the first prizes
was always to be given to a Freshman, and the other
three could be competed for by Freshmen and Sopho-
mores on equal terms. Other regulations in regard to
the matter were these : " Five graduates of Linonia shall
be chosen by the society by ballot, and their names put
by the secretary into a box from which the president
shall draw out indiscriminately three who shall con-
stitute a committee to hear the discussion and award the
prizes, their decision being based upon the 'argument,'
the 'style,' and the 'delivery.' Each disputant shall
have the privilege of speaking but once and of occupy-
ing but twenty minutes. Those who are desirous of
competing for the prizes shall hand in their names to
the president at least one week previous to the discus-
sion. The chairman of the committee shall call upon
the disputants by lot, and each disputant shall imme-
diately respond to his name or be debarred the privilege
of taking part in the debate. The discussion shall
take place during the last half of the second term of the
college year." Twenty men entered the first debate,
March 2, 185 1, and with slight changes and modifications
the plan mentioned remained in vogue until i860, when
the joint debate was abandoned, and each class has
since had an independent trial of its own, for three prizes
of $20, $10, and $5. Under the old rule, it rarely
happened that the Freshmen were able to win more
than the single prize necessarily allotted to them. In
1854 there was a senior debate in which one prize was
awarded, but it was not until four years afterwards that
the regular senior prize debate was instituted by the

THE SOCIE TY S YSTEM. 2 1 5

society. Two prizes only were awarded during each of
the first three years of the senior debate, but since '62
three have each year been given. The junior debate
was introduced in the class of '65, and with that class,
therefore, was perfected the system, since in vogue, of
competing in debate, for three prizes, in each one of
the four academic years. The value of the prizes in
each of the two upper classes is $20, $15, and $10.

Brothers, meanwhile, had of course felt in duty bound
to be equal with its rival in the encouragement of
eloquence. So, in 1853, each class had a prize debate,
— the Sophomores on February 16, the Juniors on
February 19, the Freshmen on March 2, and the Seniors
on March 9. One prize in each upper class, and three
prizes in the freshman class were competed for. Next
year, the Juniors competed for one prize, and the Fresh-
men for three prizes. For the five years following, only
the two lower classes debated, — the Sophomores for two
prizes, the Freshmen for three as before. . In the for-
mer class the number of prizes was first increased to
three in the class of '62. In '59 came the first regular
senior debate, for two prizes, to which a third was first
added in '61. The class of '65 omitted their sophomore
debate, and held one, for three prizes, in junior year,
instead of it. With ^dd^ therefore, or a year later than
in Linonia, was perfected the present system of four
prize debates a year — each for three prizes, of $20, $15,
and $10. Hence, both societies together now award
twenty-four debate prizes a year, amounting in the
aggregate to $340 in value, but as a large proportion of
them are "split" the number of individuals "honored"
in this way is from 30 to 40 annually. Of the prize
money all but the $70 (or less^ in years when the bonds
are depreciated) derived from the Bishop fund, comes
from the taxes assessed on the term-bills of the students.

2i6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

By order of the faculty the debates must now be held
within ten days from the opening of the term. Those
of the Seniors and Sophomores introduce the second
term ; those of the Juniors and Freshmen, the third ;
though the junior debate came at the former time until
within a year or two. The question for discussion is
chosen a month or two in advance, by those intending
to discuss it, and the order in which they are to speak
is also determined in advance, by lot. The three persons
who act as judges are usually graduates of the college
and society, though little attempt is made to adhere to
the original rule in regard to this matter, and any gentle-
man of requisite age and "weight," who can be per-
suaded to serve, is. quickly accepted as judge, without
much regard to his college or society antecedents.
Members of the faculty are usually the first ones applied
to, and some of them serve as judges on nearly every
debate. Wednesdays and Saturdays are the times pre-
ferred, though the other days of the week are selected
almost as often, for holding the contests. Frequently,
though not always, the debates of the two societies are
in progress at the same time. When only eight or nine
speakers take part, the debate is finished in a single
session, which is held in the evening ; but, with twice
that number of disputants, a preliminary afternoon
session is required. The freshman and junior debates
are generally the most closely contested of any ; for in
the one case is offered the first opportunity a man has
for displaying his " literary abilities " to the college
public ; and in the other the last one for gaining laurels
that may take him to a senior society. The junior de-
bates of the present year, however, attracted barely as
many competitors as there were prizes offered, and it
was at one time rumored that they would be abandoned
for lack of participants. In senior year there is little to

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 217

fight for save the keeping up of previously made repu-
tations, unless it be that the chances for class orator-
ship are sometimes affected by the result of this last
debate. As for the Sophomores, perhaps some of the
successful ones of the year before do not care to run the
risk of a second trial, and some of the unsuccessful ones
are too much discouraged to do so ; for at all events
their debate perhaps creates the least excitement of any.
But all these prize trials attract great attention, and are.
during their progress, the common talk of class and col-
lege. Large crowds go up to hear the speeches, and
though different men " draw " different sized audiences,
the attendance upon all is considerable, and it is rarely
that the hall is entirely deserted, even for the poorest
speaker. Programmes bearing the names of the judges,
the question for debate, and the names of the disputants
in their order, are freely circulated, and as fifteen minutes
are allowed every speaker, it is possible to guess very
nearly the time when each one of them will "come on."
Between every speech the doors are left open for a
minute or two, to allow the entrance and egress of spec-
tators, but are kept locked in the meanwhile, so that no
speaker need be interrupted. The president sits at his
desk to announce the speakers, and the judges are
ranged below him. At the conclusion of the debate,
which often lasts till nearly midnight, they withdraw for
a few moments to compare opinions, and then announce
their decisions. The result is usually received with loud
applause and cheerings, both within and without the
hall, the prize takers are congratulated by their friends,
and the excitement is ended. Partisans of the different
class societies add up the " honors " each one of them
has taken in the persons of its past, present, and pros-
pective members, and discuss the result of their com-
parisons at the breakfast table next morning. The

2l8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Courani has also sometimes published the society con-
nections of the prize men, in announcing their names.
It should be understood that these prize debates have
nothing to do with the ordinary exercises of the society,
and the men who participate in them rarely venture at
other times within the society halls.

Annual reunions of their graduates used to be held
in the halls on the day before Commencement, when
speeches were made, old stories re-told, songs sung, and
an enthusiasm for the society re-awakened. These ex-
ercises were among the most prominent and attractive
ones of the week, and were largely attended by the
undergraduate members ; but with the decay of the
societies they have lessened in interest and for a few
years past have been neglected altogether. The cen-
tenial celebration of Linonia in 1853, the day before
Commencement, was quite a grand affair. The literary
exercises consisted of an oration by William M. Evarts
of '37 and a poem by Francis M. Finch of '49, delivered
in the North Church, and attended in a body by all the
assembled alumni. Afterwards came a banquet in
Alumni Hall, then for the first time dedicated. " It had
been finely decorated for the occasion by ladies of New
Haven. Festoons of pink, blue, and yellow — the badges
of the societies — adorned the walls, with four shields
enveloped in green, pink, blue and yellow, as represent-
ing Yale, Linonia, Brothers and Calliope." Names and
portraits of famous ex-members^ mottoes and inscrip-
tions, etc., were also displayed. ' Daniel Lord of '14
acted as president, and other big men helped to make
the after-dinner speeches. " Much good feeling and
cordiality prevailed, and Brothers and Linonians made
common cause in having a good time." A pamphlet
containing the oration and poem, and a full account of
the proceedings, was afterwards issued, as well as the

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. ■ 219

centennial catalogue already referred to, in commemora-
tion of the event. The Brothers centennial was cele-
brated the day before the Commencement of 1868. A
reunion was held at the hall in the forenoon ; in the
afternoon at the North Church an oration was delivered
by Thomas M. Clark of '31 and a poem by Theodore
Bacon of '53 ; and in the evening came a " social recep-
tion" at the Art Building, to which the sisters as well as
the Brothers were invited, — a "collation" ending up the
solemn festivities of the day. The- aft air was in every
way inferior to the celebration of Linonia, for the fifteen
years which had elapsed since then had been years of
decay and dissolution, and the show of enthusiasum in
all but the older members was too evidently feigned to
be eftective. The undergraduates took no interest in
the exhibition, and what little trouble a few of them
incurred for it was in deference to the faculty's request.

Various reasons have been offered from time to time
to account for the dying out of all regard for these once
proud institutions, and as many remedies have been
stoutly urged. The commonest cry of the past seems
to have been, "The class societies are causing the ruin
of the others ; therefore, let the class societies be abol-
ished." Another and more reasonable theory has called
the class societies a consequence rather than a cause of
the decay of the general ones. Whatever may be its
true explanation, of the fact itself, that the general soci-
eties are dead past all hope of resurrection, there is no
longer any reasonable doubt. The college children of
this generation may not be wiser than their predecessors,
and their society system may not be a better one; but
their modes of life and their society ideals are not like
the old, and nothing can now make them take an inter-
est in a system which in their view has outlived its use-
fulness. The fraudulent farce of keeping it up, how-

220 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ever, is a wastefully expensive one, and appeals are all the
while being made to the college authorities to step in
and put an end to it. Were they to combine the two
society libraries with the general library of the college,
and from the lighter literature of the three sections form
a special undergraduate department ; turn the society
halls into recitation or lecture rooms ; and dispose of
the duplicate volumes and other useless society property,
they would effect a saving of at least $1500 a year, and
could either reduce the "society tax" to $5, or, by keep-
ing it as at present, could accomplish much more for
the undergraduate library and reading-room, — the use of
which is the only benefit which nine tenths of the stu-
dents receive from their " societies." As very few under-
graduates now sign their names to the constitutions of
the societies to which they are allotted, the college treas-
urer would in most cases be unable to enforce payment
of the tax, were it refused ; and perhaps a general re-
fusal to pay this illegal tax will finally be the means of
forcing the authorities into assuming direct control of
the property which is now so sadly mismanaged. From
a recent article in a college paper is extracted the fol-
lowing summary, which, allowing for few unimportant
variations, will fairly enough represent the society ex-
penses for each and every year : " It appears, from the
annual reports of the financial agent of Linonia and
Brothers, that for the twelve months ending May 31,
1870, the college treasurer collected from the students,
under the name of 'society tax,' the sum of $3718.12.
As the number of undergraduates during this period
averaged more than 500, and as the tax is $8, it would
seem that some fifty or more made no payments ; and
no doubt these were the same individuals whose entire
dues to the college treasurer were by authority remitted.
Of this large sum of money, $2061.09 was expended

THE SOCIE TY S VSTEM. 2 2 1

upon the libraries. The salary of each of the two
librarians is $225, and of each of the four assistants
$75 ; but a part of the same was still unpaid when the
report was made out, so that the salary item amounted
to but $735. Of the remaining $1326.09, a great pro-
portion was undoubtedly spent for books, though exactly
how much is not stated. Next in cost to the libraries,
was the reading-room, upon which (no items given)
$967,80 was expended. Third may be noted the direct
expense of ^running the societies,' $680.64 ; which was
made up as follows : debate prizes, $284.75 > coal,
$106.06; janitors' salary, $65 ; fire-making and sweep-
ing, $62.85; repairs, $43-i8 ; gas, $42.56; printing,
$41.25 ; incidentals, $28,24 I ^^^ bell-ringing, $4.75.
It is possible that the expenses for coal and gas should
be charged in part to the libraries and reading-room ;
though the report itself encourages no such inference.
Fourth and last are the salary of the financial agent,
$roo ; the charge of the college treasurer for collecting
the tax, $80 ; the interest on the $400 debt of Linonia,
$27.50 ; and the insurance of Brothers, $11.25 ; — a total
of $218.75. In prize money Linonia annually distrib-
utes $160, and Brothers 180 ; but the total has been put
at $284.75, because $55.25 of Linonia's money is
derived from the * Bishop fund,' and so does not enter
into the account. The four divisions of the report as
above given foot up a total of $3928.28 ; and the excess
of $210.16 over the amount received for taxes, is made
up of the $55.20 collected by the librarians for fines,
etc., and the $154.96 by which the cash brought over
from the old year exceeded the cash carried over for the
new one."

A third society, after the same pattern, which lived
out the time allotted to a generation of men, was
" Calliope," or " the Calliopean Society " as its members

S22 FOUR YEARS AT VALE.

preferred to call it. On July 8, 1819 — because of a
political fight which had resulted in the election of a
northern man to the presidency of Linonia — 32 members
of the three lower classes withdrew from Linonia and
Brothers, and set up this society of their own, to which
they soon attracted 37 others, making Calliope's mem-
bership in that first year, 69, or larger than at any sub-
sequent period. All the founders were, with two excep-
tions. Southerners, and to " the South " the society ever
afterwards looked for its chief support. It never elec-
tioneered the Freshmen, or sought to increase its mem-
bership by any adventitious aids. All who came from
the South went to the society as a matter of course.
Some from the Middle and Western States also joined
it, but the members from New England hardly averaged
one a year. Its hall was in Townsend's Block, on Chapel
street, oppose the college yard. When Alumni Hall
was built, though the society was evidently moribund, it
persisted in having a room made for it in the new build-
ing, and the apartment now known as Calliope Hall
was the result. It lies between the other two society
halls, and has seldom been put to any service since the
disruption of the society, which happened before the new
quarters were taken possession of. The society library,
at the start in 1819, numbered about 400 volumes; in
1828, 2300; in 1831, 2900; in 1837, 4100; in 1840^
5000; and at the end in 1852, about 10,000. The
books were kept in the apartment between the Library
proper and the south or Linonia wing, and when Calliope
w'as dissolved were given to the college, which by the
sale of them to the Bridgeport city library realized $2100,
from which fund two of its "general scholarships,"
yielding $66 a year are supported. Its first and per-
haps only catalogue of members was an octavo of 32
pages, printed in 1839 by B, L. Hamlen. The names

THE SOCIE TY S YS TEM. 233

were arranged by years rather than by classes, and the
States were brought into prominence by being separated
from the residences. During its first twenty years the;
society seems to have had in all about 300 regular mem-
bers, and half that number of honorary ones. All of
the latter were obliged to come at least once to the hall
and " pass through the regular form of initiation," — a
thing not required by the other societies, many of whose
" honorary members " never set foot in New Haven, or
even in America. The catalogue was embellished with
a steel-engraved frontispiece, representing the society's
patron goddess — " the queen of the sacred nine " — in her
usual posture, accompanied by another female figure
bearing a scroll labeled "Calliope, 1819." Upon the
cover was displayed a six-pointed star, with a "C" sup-
ported within its open hexagon. The letters ''' 0 E M,"
initials of the motto, appeared upon the " C," and in the
lower angle of the star was the date, "1819." This
design was doubtless a copy of the society badge, worn
as a pendant to the watch chain. In the Lit. for Feb-
ruary, 1853, it was announced that the society had been
dissolved, and that the committee appointed to pay its
debts and wind up its affairs would publish a report of
their work in the next number of the magazine, together
with a statement of the causes which led to the dissolu-
tion. But the promised report and explanation were
never printed. Still another " literary society " was the
"Phoenix," founded in 1806, chiefly by Thomas S.
Grimke, who graduated the following year. The society
does not seem to have long survived his departure, and
its members were quickly absorbed by Linonia and
Brothers — the name of Grimke himself afterwards ap-
pearing on the former's catalogue.

Another sociey institution, almost as aged as Linonia
and Brothers but of quite a different character, is the " Phi

226 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the penalty for tardiness ; of $io, for absence ; of $20,
for flunking an appointment. There were never any
eatables provided except on- the night of December 6,
when the society's anniversary was celebrated by a sup-
per. The oration on that occasion was delivered by a
graduate, and the annual officers were chosen. The
president was always a graduate, and was often reelected,
— Prof. Kingsley, for example, holding the office for six
successive years. Afterwards, the annual supper was
abolished and the only "bum" was that of initiation
night, when with singing, and story-telling, and eating
and drinking, " a general jollification was kept up till
a late hour." The occasion constantly increased in im-
portance and expense, until in 1835 the initiation sup-
per cost $150, which was judged to be so utterly extrav-
agant, that the corporation passed a vote forbidding any
future celebration of the sort, as being a waste of money.
The day after Commencement, it was customary to hold
an " exhibition," when two orations were delivered, by
tutors or other graduates, and a debate was engaged in
by four undergraduates. As these exhibitions gradually
grew in interest and importance, it was decided to make
them public, and in vSeptember, 1787, the great unin-
itiated, " assembled in the brick meeting house," were
for the first time allowed to listen to one of Phi Beta's
representative orators. The next public oration was
pronounced five years later, and in the 42 years, 1793-
1834, there were only 12 Commencements when the soci-
ety failed to display itself; while from 1835 onward
there has been no break in its annual exhibitions. Be-
fore that time, there had been but seven poems delivered,
of which only one had been printed. Of the orations,
ten had been printed. There were but 28 of them, for
on two occasions the poet had been the only speaker
before the society. Since 1835, the oration has been

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 227

three times and the poem eight times omitted ; and, of
those delivered, two orations and two poems have not
been printed.

At the annual September meeting of 1793, it was
voted, that an oration should each y^ar be delivered in
public on the day after Commencement ; that on the
morning of that day the society — assembled at the State
House at 8 o'clock — should always choose two orators,
the first to speak upon the following year, and the other
to be ready as his substitute ; that the substitute for one
yean should be in turn chosen the orator for the next ;
and that the orator should notify the president, two
months before Commencement, of his intention or not
to fulfil his appointment. These rules are in effect still
adhered to, though for many years the society's anniver-
sary has been the day before instead of the day after
Commencement ; the morning business meeting has
been held in one of the Lyceum lecture rooms ; and the
oration and poem have been delivered in the evening at
one of the churches on the green. But the orator and
poet and their substitutes are still chosen for one year
in advance, and the substitutes are duly promoted to
the first places, so that in effect each man appointed has
two years to prepare himself. 'Perhaps three-fourths of
the persons selected to speak before the society, have
been regular members of it at Yale, — the others being
regular or honorary members of other branches or hon-
orary members of the Yale branch. Doolittle's Hall —
in the old building on College street, near the corner of
Elm, which was torn down to give place to the new
Divinity College — used to be, in the old times, the only
public hall which the city possessed, and Phi Beta
Kappa, as well as Linonia and Brothers, used to hold
its ordinary meetings there. Originally, the hall
was said to have belonged to the Freemasons ; and

2 28 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

of course the different college societies which met
there rented it on different evenings. In 1825, ^^
shortly afterwards, a clamor against Masonry and secret
societies generally, which swept over the country, seems
to have resulted in the removal of its secret character
from Phi Beta Kappa, both at Yale and in other col-
leges. With its mystery departed its activity also ; and
for forty years past it has been simply a " society insti-
tution" possessed of but little more life than it claims
to-day, though membership in it was thought an honor
worth striving for until quite a recent period. High
scholarship was always as now the prime qualification
w^hich recommended a man for election, and, also as
now, about a third of each senior class were annually
elected. The bulk of the elections were given out to
the Juniors during the third term, and the regular initia-
tion was held then, but there seems to have been occa-
sional class elections subsequently given out in senior
year. Personal prejudice sometimes kept a few high-
stand men out, and personal favoritism sometimes
brought a few low-stand men in, but, in general, scholar-
ship alone decided the matter, — the society confining
its elections pretty closely to the list recommended it by
the faculty, in response to its own application therefor.
Elections were nominally unanimous, but each one who
cast a black-ball was obliged to avow the reasons which
influenced him in doing so, and the single " No" was
always expected to be withdrawn, as a matter of course.
For fifty years and more, admission to the society was
considered one of the greatest honors of the college,
and was the object in view of which the hardest exer-
tions of the first three years were put forth. Its key, in
fact, seems to have been thought about as desirable as
a senior-society pin is now-a-days, and to have been as
generally recognized in the college world as a badge of
exceptional honor and distinction.

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 229

" This society," say its oldest archives, " continued to
increase and become more and more respectable in the
view of the students of college. The younger classes
were sensibly ambitious of recommending themselves to
the society by regular behavior and uncommon exertions
of scholarship. At the same time, the candidate in the
successive senior classes who finally failed of the honor
of an election, were mortified and irritated by disap-
pointment. Under the united influence of envy, resent-
ment and curiosity, Hugo Burghardt, Nathan Stiles and
Richard McCurdy, three Seniors, combined together,
and on the evening of December 19, 1786, broke open
the secretary's door, in his absence, entered his study,
and feloniously took, stole, and carried away the socie-
ty's trunk, with all its contents. They, however, by no
means satisfied their expectations of learning the mys-
teries of the society and of the institution, as there was
no written explanation of them in the archives ; and
fortunately they were detected before they had an oppor-
tunity of divulging their discovery. Upon their detec-
tion, they restored the papers as they found them, paid
for the damage done the trunk, appeared in the presence
of the society assembled in a general meeting, volunta-
rily made a written confession, which is still lodged in
the trunk, and bound themselves by a solemn oath to
confine within their own breasts all the knowledge of
the secrets of the society which they had so criminally
obtained by violating the sacred security of locks and
keys. In compassion to them and their friends, the
society generously pardoned them and engaged to con-
ceal their names from the world. An attested copy of
their confession and oath was entered on record and also
transmitted to Cambridge. Thus tranquillity was re-
stored, and the affairs of the society proceeded with-
out interruption until on or about July 20, 1787, when

230 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the trunk was unlocked in a clandestine manner, and
the secretary's and register's books were again stolen ;
though the latter was soon found. No discovery was
made of the perpetrators of this second burglary, nor
has there since appeared any publication of the contents
of the book of records."

The badge of the society is a flat rectangular watch-
key of gold, across the central portion of which are en-
graved the letters " (/^ B K" ; and upon the right lower
corner, a right hand, with the index finger pointing
diagonally .across to several stars in the left upper cor-
ner. The number of these stars seems for some time
to have been made to correspond to the whole number
of chapters, for there were five of them upon the key of
thirty years ago. As the number of chapters became
too extensive for representation, only as many stars
were expressed as there were chapters in the State ; and
hence there are now three of them upon the Yale key.
Another explanation is that they are intended to corres-
pond with the number of Alphas. The flat portion of
the key, which is almost a square, measures an inch
upon its longest side. In all the colleges the badge has
never varied, save in the number of stars, from that in-
stituted at William and Mary in 1776. According to
Allyn's " Ritual," it was " a medal of gold or silver,
sometimes worn on the bosom, suspended by blue or
pink ribbon, but more commonly as a watch key. Upon
its back was engraved, " S. P. Dec. 6, 1776," — the initials
signifying, ^ Socieias PhilosophicBy "The sign is given
by placing the two forefingers of the right hand so as to
cover the left corner of the mouth ; draw them across
the chin." " The grip is like the common shaking of
hands, only not interlocking the thumbs, and at the
same time gently pressing the wrist." At Yale and
other colleges, the lists of members which are occasion-

THE SOCIE TV SVsTeM. 231

ally published are sometimes headed by a wood-cut seal,
an inch and a half in diameter, consisting simply of the
name of the chapter — " Alpha of Connecticut," for ex-
ample—in a double circle within which appear the
emblems of the key. The constitution of the society
required every member to wear the badge, but only about
a third of them did so, fifty years ago, when their soci-
ety was a living, wide-awake affair ; and, now, as for a
dozen years or more past, the sight of a Phi Beta key
would raise a cry of derision. The last Yale Senior
who once or twice ventured to expose such a thing to
the gaze of the populace belonged to the class of '67.

This was also the last class for whose initiation a
special meeting was held. Since 1850 or before, elec-
tions to the society have been entirely a matter of form.
The faculty's record of scholarship alone decides the
matter, and in accordance with this about a third of the
junior class, comprising all the appointment-men save
the lowest, were each year requested^ by printed notice,
to present themselves at one of the Lyceum lecture
rooms, on the Wednesday evening preceeding Presenta-
tion Day, for the purpose of being initiated into Phi
Beta Kappa. Here they were met by one or more of
the graduate ofiicers of the affair, and the significance
of the society, and of their election to it, was formally
explained to them. While awaiting the arrival of these
officers the society was wont to take up a collection and
institute an impromptu " peanut bum." The two or
three of their number who were entrusted with the
money, having purchased a bushel or so of peanuts at
the nearest fruit store, would on their return be pur-
sued by a ravenous crowd of their non-elected class-
mates, even to the very door of the lecture room, and
sometimes be obliged to surrender a part of their booty.
After the meeting, with its "bum," was over, the newly

23^ FOUR YEARS AT YALE,

initiated were very liberal in the distribution of peanuts
among the non-elect, or were beset by the latter and
compelled by force to disgorge the remnants of their
feast. Sometimes, also, the new members marched in
procession about the college buildings, — having fastened
to their watch-chains, as burlesques on the authorized
badges, the large pasteboard rectangles used in recita-
tion for the demonstration of mathematical propositions,
— shouting " Phi, ai, ai ! Phi Beta Kappa!" which was
a sort of cheer or rallying cry in the palmy days of the
society. The bell which called their meetings together
used also to be rung in a peculiar, jerky fashion, to
imitate as nearly as possible this society shout. In the
class of '58, for some unknown reason, only three men
accepted elections to Phi Beta.

Besides this meeting, there were the Deccember
aniversary for the election of officers, and the meet-
ing at Commencement time for the choice of orator and
poet. The latter is the only one now held. For a dozen
years past, the general officers have been chosen at that
time, and begining with '68, the " active members" have
been " elected" then. Printed notifications of the time
and place of meeting are posted upon the trees in the
college yard. At the appointed hour, a sprinkling of
graduates and two or three undergraduates assemble.
A president for the next year is chosen in the person of
some graduate, usually a non-resident of New Haven,
who may or may not be present ; then the vice presi-
dent (Prof A. C. Twining of '20) secretary (Prof. D.
C. Oilman of '52), and treasurer (Prof. H. A. Newton
of '50), are reelected ; and the remaining two officers —
recording secretary and assistant treasurer — are ap-
pointed from among the " active members." The names
of the first 30 or 40 persons upon the faculty's appoint-
ment list are read off and they are " unanimously elected"

THE so CIE TV S VS TEM. 22,-^

ed" to the society. They form the " active members"
for the following year, without further, ceremony, and
their most active duty resulting is to laugh when they
see their names in the society's printed list. The sub-
stitute orator and poet having been chosen orator and
poet, and new substitutes having been chosen in their
places, perhaps a few honorary members are elected.
Then the official reports are read and accepted, finan-
cial and other resolutions are adopted, and the" society"
disbands, to be resurrected and go through the same
galvanic formalities at the close of another year. In
its early days, an initiation fee of $io was demanded ;
but this was abolished long ago, and the society ex-
penses have to be met by subscription, and most of them
doubtless fall upon the college professors who are its offi-
cers. At all events, it is supposed that they alternate
with one another in making up the annual deficit caused
by the printing of the oration and poem. At last year's
Commencement meeting a committee of five old mem-
bers was appointed to enquire into the expediency of
rejuvenating the society or abandoning it altogether.
No substitute orator and poet were elected for the Com-
mencement of 1872, and it is therefore possible that
this year's will be the last appearance of Phi Beta at
Yale.

A sixteen-page catalogue, printed by Oliver Steele &
Co. in April, 1808, was perhaps the first one published.
It contained about 400 names, all arranged in one alpha-
betical list, with their " places of abode," "college titles"
[" Senr.," "Junr.," or "A. B."], and "times of admis-
sion" annexed. The last catalogue — of 50 octavo
pages, printed by B. L. Hamlen — was issued in 1852.
In this the names of the members were given by classes,
together with both "original and present residences,"
honorary titles, etc. Special lists of the "honorary

2 34 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

members, not graduates of Yale College," comprising
but forty names •; of the presidents ; and of the orators
and poets, were also included. An index to the 1700
individuals mentioned succeeded the whole. Each sep-
arate chapter of the fraternity has doubtless published
similar lists, but no general catalogue of the members
of all the chapters has ever been issued. With each
branch showing signs of life but one day out of the
three hundred and sixty-five, there can of course be no
tangible tie between them, and any general work in the
name of the whole fraternity is clearly out of the ques-
tion.

The history of the chapters elsewhere has been es-
sentially the same as at Yale, save that the younger
ones have never known any active life, but have been
form the outset simply society institutions. Character-
istics common to all the chapters are : the delivery of
an oration and poem in public, at Commencement time,
and the holding of a business meeting in private, when
the officers and members for the ensuing year are chosen
of whom the former are graduates and the latter the
best scholars of the incoming senior class. In short,
" Phi Beta Kappa" is, always and everywhere, a mere
official compliment paid by the faculty to high scholar-
ship. Its key, or the right to wear it, is simply a medal,
or "reward of merit,"' certifying that the owner ranks
with the first third of his class. This fiction, myth, ab-
straction, pious fraud, or what not ,is naturally the object
of much merriment at Yale. References are often made
to its profound secrec}^, to the wire pulling and election-
eering resorted to in choosing its officers, to favorite-
ism and unworthy personal prejudices shown in con-
ferring its elections, to the hilarious joviality and boister-
ous uproar attendant upon its weekly gatherings, to the
low and disreputable character of its members, v;ho are

THE SOCIETY SYSTEM. 235

" ill constant danger of being dropped from the class
through excessive attention to their society duties," — and
so on. Such are the sarcastic and derisive utterances now
heard in regard to that venerable fraternity which, almost
a century ago, started out upon its mission of inculcating
the doctrine that " Philosophy is the guide of life."

Youngest of the society institutions is "Chi Delta
Theta," established in 182 1. Prof. James L. Kingsley was
its founder and perpetual president. Its object was to
compliment and encourage literary as distinguished
from scholastic ability. About a fourth of the senior
class, including all the "good writers," were annually
elected to it, and mef fortnightly, in one of the Lyceum
lecture rooms, — Tuesday evening at eight o'clock being
the time of assembling. Sometimes the meeting was
held at the house of the president. The exercises con-
sisted of the reading of essays — one, two, three or more in
number — and the subsequent discussion of them. Classi-
cal literature was at one time especially affected, and a
select classical library was formed, which numbered about
100 volumes when the society dissolved and was then
given to the college. All the books were from choice
or rare editions. In Phi Beta, there were no writ-
ten essays presented, but all the literary performances
were in the form of debates, orations, etc., orally deliv-
ered ; while in Linonia and Brothers, the two methods
characteristic of both the societies were in vogue. Chi
Delta and Phi Beta were neither rivals of each other
nor of the general societies. Seniors might belong to
all three of them, and it was of course thought an es-
pecial honor to be able to swing both the senior-society
badges. At the time of Junior Exhibition, that of Chi
Delta was very prominently displayed by, the appoint-
ment-men who had just gained it, — for the elections seem
to have been given out at that early period in the year.

236 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

The badge was in the form of a gold "z/," or triangle,
with sides an inch in length, upon the lower one of which
was engraved " XJ 0 182 1 ;" and was usually hang as a
pendent to the watch chain, though sometimes attached
to the vest as a pin. The officers were chosen annually,
and the founder of the society was always reelected presi-
dent. Chi Delta died out in the clan of '43 or '44, having
had only a nominal, or honorary existence — like that of
Phi Beta at the present time— in several preceding classes.
No catalogue of the members seems ever to have been
published. It naturally happened that the editors of
the Ztf. were always elected to it, and in 1868, at] the
suggestion of one of them, it was decided to revive the
old society, by making it an institution connected with
the magazine. The '68 editors were accordingly initi-
ated as members of Chi Delta Theta, and pledged to
turn over " the society " to the five elected to succeed
them in the management of the Z//. A similar trans-
fer has been made by subsequent editors, and the society
in its present form seems as certain of long life as " the
oldest college periodical " itself. Since the editors are
supposed to be the " five best literary men" of every
senior class, the name and mantle of the old society
may be appropriately left in their keeping. The tri-
angle is now worn, in the place of a watch chain, simply
as a badge of the editorial office. Upon the reverse are
graved," Yale Lit. 1836," and the name and class of
the owner.

Part Second.
THE STUDENT LIFE.

CHAPTER I.
FRESHMAN YEAR.

Board and Lodging — Eating Clubs — Their Formation and Charac-
teristics— Names, Mottoes and Devices — The College Club or
Commons — The Old Commons Hall System — The Old Buttery
— Smoking Out — Stealing — Hazing — Put Out That Light! —
Rushing — The Foot-Ball Game — The Painting Disgrace — Gate
Lifting — Lamp Smashing — Thanksgiving Jubilee — As it was
Known to '69 — Its Previous Origin and Growth — Interference of
the Faculty — The Last Jubilee— Its Character in the Future —
Pow-wow — The Annual Dinner, and its Predecessor, the Bien-
nial Jubilee — The Freshman Laws of the Last Century — The
Old Manner of Lecturing,

On the same printed form which certifies that the
candidate has been " admitted on probation a member
of the freshman class" is a notification of the tutor to
whom he is to apply if he desires a room in the college
buildings. As none but indigent Freshmen ever occupy
these rooms, which are poor in quality and few in num-
ber, the newly-admitted probably leaves this official
alone, and starts off in quest of a room in some private
house of the city, since college law forbids him either
to lodge or board at a public hotel. According to the
locality, size, equipment of the room or rooms, and the
fact of his occupying it or them alone or with a chum.

238 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the Freshman agrees to pay a rent of from $1.50 to $5
a week, though the ordinary price of course lies between'
these two extremes. " Fire" and " light" and " washing"
are always " extra," and a stove is never included with
the other furniture. Towels, too, the lodger is expected
to supply for himself If a house is supplied with fur-
nace heat and gas, the " roomer" is charged a dollar for
the former and a half dollar for the latter, per week. It
will usually cost him about as much if he has a stove of
his own, — aside from the trouble of attending to it,
which he must do himself, — but he can furnish his own
"light" at half the indicated expense. His "washing"
costs from sixty to seventy-five cents per dozen pieces,
and is either done at the house, or by private washer-
women who call for and deliver his clothing, or by the
public laundries. If the entrance door of the house
where he rooms is usually closed, the lodger is supplied
with a latch-key, which will admit him at all times, and
he commonly leaves the door of his own room unlocked
in his absence ; but if the entrance door is always open,
as is apt to be the case in a house where there are many
lodgers, he is careful to lock up his own room when he
departs therefrom. He does not, save in exceptional
cases, " board," that is, take his meals, in the same
house where he "rooms." "Eating clubs," especially
in freshman year, are the approved mediums through
which he obtains his food.

A " club" is in theory a cooperative affair, whose
members " pay only for what they have," and "have just
what they want," and whose steward obeys their orders
in supplying the provender, and receives simply his own
board in consideration of his trouble. Such a thing
may sometime have existed, but for some years past it
has been an abstraction merely. The real club is more
a thing of this sort : The steward, usually a poor man,

THE STUDENT LITE. 239

engages some woman, accustomed to the business, to
supply a dining room, dishes, table furniture and wait-
ers, and do the cooking for his proposed club. For this,
he agrees to pay her a certain price per plate,— not in-
cluding his own, which is free, — and engages that the
club shall be above a certain minimum number as to
size. He has probably secured beforehand the requisite
number of classmates as members, or, if not, he soon
gets them together, and the club is formed. A steward
has little difficulty in making up a crowd among Fresh-
men, who are unacquainted with one another, and so
without likes or dislikes. Those who have been
acquaintances at a large preparatory school, however,
sometimes join together in a club, or form a nucleus for
one, when first they come to college. The steward gen-
erally attracts his men by suggesting a basis of " about"
so many dollars per week ; giving them to understand
that this may vary according to their orders ; and that
his own board is the only compensation which he him-
self is to receive for his trouble. Meanwhile he agrees,
in consideration of a certain percentage paid to himself
by the latter, to order from a single market-man every-
thing which the club requires, and the trader looks to
him alone for payment of the supplies which he fur-
nishes. The steward occupies the "head of the table,"
does the carving whenever necessary, and gives his
orders to the market-man each day for the provisions
needed the day following, — consulting in doing this the
expressed wishes of a majority of the club, and warn-
ing them when their demands are bringing up the price
of board above the estimated amount. At the close of
the term he divides the amount of the provision bill by
the number of members, and adding to this quotient
the sum due from each one for table service and cookery,
announces the result as the price of board for the term.

24© FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

which price is pretty certain to be in excess of the esti-
mate on which the club was based. After collecting his
board bills and paying his cook and market-man — from
whom he receives back the percentage agreed upon —
his work for the term is over. Very likely the club
breaks up ; or perhaps it may go on for another term
under the same auspices. It will be seen that in this
arrangement everything depends upon the integrity and
shrewdness of the steward and the woman whom he em-
ployes. The latter has the chance to appropriate as
many %i the club's stores as she may need, either to
board her own family or to use for other purposes, and
the former can put the figures of the provision bill almost
as high as he chooses, — without there being in either
case any sensible chance of discovery. For these rea-
sons the plan is not a popular one, after men have found
out its defects ; and they are apt to demand that a
steward shall leave out the " about" in his proposals, and
agree to board them at a certain fixed rate per week.
If he does this, the peculations of the cook of course
tell against himself simply instead of the club as a
whole, and his only way to make himself good is to sup-
ply cheaper food, which of course raises an outcry from
his comrades. Still another way in which a poor man
may earn his own support is this : he offers some woman,
in want of boarders at a certain price per week, to sup-
ply enough men for a table, a dozen being commonly
the minimum number, to serve at the head of the table
as carver, and perhaps to collect the board bills when
due, as well as to act as a general go-between, in com-
municating the wishes of the boarders to their hostess,
and the reverse. For these services he receives his
own board without payment. In the fourth and last
variety of eating club, there is no steward or head-man
of any sort. The members of it simply agree to pay a

THE STUDENT LIFE. -241

certain price for board, and are as individuals directly
responsible to their hostess.

The essential thing in a club, which, in all its forms,
plainly distinguishes it from a boarding house, is this,
that its members " make up their own crowd," and alone
decide who shall be admitted to their number. A club
once formed, neither the hostess nor the steward can
secure the admission of a new member without the con-
sent of the others. A club, too, adopts its own rules of
table etiquette, and pays only such regard to the con-
ventionalities as seems to it good, — no woman or other
person of authority ever having a place at its table.
Men in clubs, as everywhere else, are certain to be dis-
satisfied either with the quality of their food or the
price at which it is afforded, and changes are continually
going on. New clubs are started and old ones reorgan-
ized at the beginning of each year, and in fact nearly
every term. Before the close of freshman year the
" popular men" of the class are pretty certain to drift
into a club together, which is nearly as certain to go to
pieces before the close of the year which follows. In
junior year, may be, each society is represented by its
eating club, which perhaps had its beginning among its
pledged representatives in the year before, when a neu-
tral Sophomore who could get elected to the Psi U or
DKE club would think his chances good for an election
to the societies themselves : generally, with reason.
Senior-society clubs are not very feasible, since to make
up a table would require the presence of about every
member, a thing which pecuniary and others differences
would render all but impossible. The Coffin society of
'69, however, took their meals together. Of late years,
too. Seniors are getting much into the way of boarding
at hotels, in defiance of the absurd rule which forbids
any undergraduate so to do.

242 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Some clubs are exceptionally long-lived. The " Pie
Club" of %^^ for example, which began with the third
term of the first year, fasted through the course, and
one in the class before it was nearly as aged ; but such
instances are not numerous. It was in 1854 that a club
— the " Hyenas"-^first set a precedent, by publishing in
the Banner a list of its members, beneath a wood-cut
device. This practice has greatly varied in popularity.
Ten years ago, nearly all the clubs of college engaged
in it. Four years ago it seemed likely to be abandoned
by all but the Freshmen. More recently, it has regained
some recognition among the upper classes, though the
Seniors are content simply to print their names, without
device of any sort. The freshman clubs are naturally
its best supporters, and they apparently labor to confer
upon themselves as absurd titles as possible, in which
they are more successful than in their attempts at witty
mottoes, which are usually far-fetched and silly. Among
the earlier clubs which figured in the Banner were the
" Vultures," " Tigers," " Harpies," "Ostriches," "Ana-
condas," and " Crocodiles" ; the steward of the first
being called " Oecumenical," of the second, " Tigridum
Curator," of the third, " Obsonator Harpyiis," and of the
fourth, " Struthamelactor" and " Superintendent of the
Des(s)ert." There were the " Dyspeptics," four of whom
were represented as dragging some meat from a hungry
dog ; the " Skel-e(a)t-ons," who were " Membra" and
whose steward was the " Dissector" ; the '^ Knicker-
bockers" [both these clubs attained considerable age] ;
the " Ruskins" ; the "Gastronomers"; the " Cosna-tors";
the "Frolicksome Oysters"; the "Beavers"; the
" Munch(ch)aw-sens " ; the " Euphagonians " ; the
" Musk-Eaters," whose steward was the '^ Gallinipper,"
and whose device represented a dozen musquitoes
seated at table. Of course there have been the inevita-

J

THE STUDENT LIFE. 243

ble " Eta Pi" clubs in all their variations ; likewise the
" Ace" and the " King" of clubs ; likewise all manner of
** Greek" titles, like 01 B^^r{tt()q^ Ol Fo^iSX^ng, 01 Zxvcf-
dyoi, Ol rucrnifxcinyot, Ol navroquyoi, Ol 'Ohyovcpdyot, Ol
' /nTtocpdyoi, Ol 'OiwtnuTt^^oi, Ol 'OoToacfuyoi, and 01
'yil.maxoi, where a man named Lamb was steward. An-
other motto of^ the latter club w^s "Agno vivimus."
The " Pinesthians," the " Epicureans," the " Choke
A-e(ters), whose steward was the " Choker," the " Ku-
kluxes," the " Fowl Fiends," the " Gobble-ins," the
'• Cherubs," the " Merry Eaters/' the " Hard Cases,"
Case being the steward's name," the " Peacemakers,"
the " Lickapillies," the "Tasters," les " Miserables," les
" Bon Vivants," die " Junggesellen," are among the
more recent "eaters." The "Pick Quick," "Sans
Souci," " Help (M)eat," " Hung(a)ry," and " Farewell"
clubs were also recently existing. Other club names,
past or present, are : " The Rectory," " Chou Chou,"
" Merchants' Union," " Water Club,'' " Ours," " House
of Lords," as distinguished from the "Commons" or
college club, and " Knights of the Knife and Fork."
The "'Cher' Club" of '6;^ was perhaps the most hap-
pily named of any.

The college club — usually called the " Commons,"
though it bears no resemblance to the obsolete institu-
tion of that name — was started in the summer term of
1866, under the auspices of the college authorities, for
the purpose of furnishing a cheap but respectable
board at its cost price. The old wooden structure next
the Art Building was fitted up for its use, one large din-
ing room being formed of its upper, another of its lower
floor. The Seniors and Sophomores occupy one, the
Juniors and Freshmen the other, though the classes are
seated at separate tables. A few members of the pro-
fessional schools are also admitted when there happens

246 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

now the case in the English colleges, the students had
supper in their own rooms, which led to extravagance
and disorder."

" Cellar room was rented for th:3 storage of their ap-
ples and other provisions, and this cellerage cost more
than the rent of a college room. The waiters at Com-
mons, about 1 6 in number, were appointed by the faculty
from the poorer students of the junior class, and were
generally supposed to look out for number one. The
beverage for dinnervvas cider, which was contained in
large pewter, pitchers at each end of the table. Up to
1815, tumblers were an unknown luxury. Each man
drank in turn from the pewter, the galvanic effect of
which gave a perceptible addition to the flavor of the
contents. The breakfasts consisted of an olla podrida,
hashed up from the remnants of yesterday's dinner, and
fried into a consistency which baffled digestion, This
compound was known as ' slum,' and was served both
dry and wet. The morning drink was coffee. Any one
who could get a doctor's certificate to the blessings of a
chronic dyspepsia, or an incipient cholera-morbus,.was
sent to the Invalids' table, where he enjoyed better fare.
To these accommodations a Senior or a tutor prefixed
and affixed a grace, during the delivery of which two
forks were sometimes observed sticking into each potato
on the table. The tutors themselves sat at elevated
tables, and getting but little chance to eat, from time to
time rapped with their knife-handles to call to order
some indecorous malcontent who compared the bread
to bricks or started up the * second perfect indicative' of
§au'a), to denote a disinclination to ill-cooked lamb.
Connected with these times, was the custom of ' pod-
ding,' as it was called. Whenever peas were, to, be
boiled for dinner, all undergraduates were summoned to
, assist in shelling them, and if any man was absent, the

THE S TUDEXr LIFE. 247

rest collected the pods and threw them, without cere-
mony into the delinquent's room. It is related that as
many as 600 tumblers and 30 coffee pots were destroyed
or carried off in a single term. Just before the old hall
was abandoned, in 18 19, there was a three days' rebel-
lion of the Freshmen and Sophomores, and nine years
later came the ' great rebellion' when about forty stu-
dents were expelled from the college." " In the Revolu-
tionary war the steward was quite unable once or twice
to provide food for the college, and this led to the dis-
persion of the students in 1776, and 1777, and once
again in 1779 delayed the beginning of the winter term
several weeks." In the days when the Cabinet served
as the dining hall, the Sophomores entered at the north,
the Freshmen at the south, and the Juniors and Seniors
at the middle door. The waiters, like the monitors,
lost nothing in social standing on account of their po-
sitions. From this description it is not very difficult to
imagine the kind of etiquette and order which prevailed
in the old Commons Hall. Under the best conditions
students, and other men also, are seldom contented with
their food, and when arbitrarily restricted in obtaining
it their dissatisfaction must have been extreme. Hence
the " bread-and-butter rebellions," the destruction of
unpalatable food, the smashing of dishes and furniture,
the wastefulness and rioting and uproar ; — vague ac-
counts of which, like traditions of another age, have
come down to the present generation of undergraduates.
Another old college institution of similar nature,
v/hich flourished for a century, but has left no sign be-
hind, was the Buttery, abolished in 18 17. It was kept
in South Middle, south entry, lower front corner room
(at present No, 33). "The butler was a graduate of re-
cent standing, and being invested with rather delicate
functions was required to be one in whom confidence

248 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

might be reposed. His chief prerogative was to have
the monopoly of certain eatables, drinkables and other ar-
ticles desired by students, which went under the general
name of ' sizings.' The Latin laws of 1748 give him
leave to sell in the Buttery cider, metheglin, strong beer
to the amount of not more than 12 barrels annually, —
which amount as the college grew was increased to 20,
— together with loaf sugar (' saccharum rigidum'), pipes,
tobacco and such necessaries of scholars as were not
furnished in the commons hall. Some of these neces-
saries were books and stationery, but certain fresh fruits
also figured largely in the butler's supply. No student
might buy cider or beer elsewhere. The butler, too,
had the care of the bell, kept the book of fines, distrib-
uted the bread and beer provided by the steward into
equal portions, and had the lost commons, for which
privilege he paid a small annual sum. He was bound
•in consideration of the profits of his monopoly to pro-
vide candles at college prayers and for a time to pay
also 50 s. stg. into the college treasury. The more
menial part of these duties he performed by his waiter.
The original motives for setting up a buttery in college
seem to have been to put the trade in articles which ap-
pealed to the appetite into safe hands, to ascertain how
far students were expensive in their habits, and prevent
them from running into debt ; and finally by providing
a place where drinkables of not very stimulating qual-
ities were sold to remove the temptation of going abroad
after spirituous liquors. Accordingly laws were passed
limiting the sum for which the butler might give credit
to a student, authorizing the President to inspect his
books, and forbidding him to sell anything except per-
mitted articles for ready money. But the whole system,
as viewed from our position as critics of the past must
be pronounced a bad one. It rather tempted the stu-

THE STUDENT LIFE. 249

dent to self-indulgence by setting up a place for the sale
of things to eat and drink within the college walls, than
restrained him by bringing his habits under inspection.
There was nothing to prevent his going abroad in quest
of stronger drinks than could be bought at the buttery,
when once those which were there sold ceased to allay,
his thirst. And a monopoly, such as the butler enjoyed
of certain articles, did not tend to lower their price, nor
to remove suspicion that they were sold at a higher rate
than free competition would assign to them."

There are certain lodging houses in the vicinity of
the colleges which, being occupied year after year almost
exclusively by Freshmen, come to have a reputation as
" freshman headquarters." An occupant of one of these,
or of any room near the college square, is more likely
to be troubled by sophomoric visitations, than one who
rooms by himself in some comparatively distant locality.
Most of the ill-treatment of Freshmen is inflicted upon
them simply as such, not as individuals who are person-
ally obnoxious ; hence a crowd of Sophomores on the
look out for " fun" attempt to get it from the Freshmen
who chance to be the most accessible. Perhaps it is
eight or nine o'clock of a Freshman's first or second
evening at Yale, when he may be studying his next
morning's lesson, that a rap comes upon his door, which
he may or may not suspect to proceed from Sophomores,
and in reply to which he may or may not say, " Come
in !" or himself open the vvay. If he does not so do,
however, all doubts as to the personality of the knock-
ers are quickly removed, by cries of " Open that door.
Fresh !" " Let us in, Freshie, if you don't want to die !"
and similar cheerful imperatives and imprecations.
Perhaps the Freshman then opens the door ; perhaps
if he doesn't, the Sophs burst it open, lock and all ;
perhaps they came in, or attempted to come in, at first

25© FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

without knocking at all ; but the result of any of the
numerous possibilities that have been suggested is, that
the Freshman, before he has time to think up any ra-
tional plan of action, finds his room full of swaggering,
loud-mouthed Sophomores, and himself at their mercy.
Perhaps if he said " Come in !" to the first rap, one of
the visitors advances and shakes hands with him with a
great show of mock deference, and presents him to the
others as a worthy member of the class of such-a-year.
They order him to mount the table, and place him there
if he does not of his own accord obey, perhaps supplying
a chair for him to sit in. After darkening the room some-
what, they shut down the windows, caW for cigars and
tobacco, and if the Freshman has none they themselves
produce the latter and proceed to load their pipes, and
light them, taking pains to puff as much smoke as pos-
sible in the Freshman's face. Meanwhile he is requested
to " scan" — that is, recite metrically — a proposition in
Euclid, or a rule of the Greek grammar, or a passage in
any other prose work that may be convenient ; to make a
spe.ech ; to sing a song ; to dance ; to recite the alphabet
backwards ; to tell his name and age ; to do every un-
pleasant and absurd thing that the evil ingenuity of a
Sophomore can conjure up. Unless he makes some
show of obedience to these requests, his visitors " stir
him up" with their bangers, or if he is obstinate and re-
fuses to do anything, or even attempts to defend himself,
they cover his head with a blanket and blow tobacco
smoke up under it until he is stifled or sick. This is a
complete " smoking out," and unless some such plan is
resorted to the Freshman, even though not a smoker,
can usually endure the process without much more in-
convenience than his entertainers themselves, and is
seldom sickened by it. The Sophomores of course im-
prove their time in saying would-be smart and witty

THE STUDENT L IFE. 2 5 1

things at their victim's expense, — a style of wit that is
pointless save when indecent or obscene, — and on their
departure may take with them any little articles of prop-
erty that fall in their way.

The regular time for pillaging the Freshmen, however,
is when they are absent at recitation, especially on the
first and second Saturday noons of the term, when the
Sophomores are at leisure. They proceed to the Fresh-
men's rooms, in parties of three or four, and carry off
anything they find there likely. to please themselves or,
by its loss, to inconvenience the owner. Pipes, tobacco
and cigars are the first things confiscated, and are sel-
dom returned. Combs, hair brushes, shaving brushes,
clothes brushes, blacking brushes, looking glasses, pens,
ink, and paper, pencils, knives, and paper cutters, collars,
shirts, and neck ties, towels, soap, hones, razors, scissors,
picture frames and ornaments, text-books and lexicons,
anything and everything, all are seized upon. In a
week or two, or after a longej: interval, the Freshman
may have the most valuable of his missing article mys-
teriously returned to him. Or even within a few days a
Sophomore may openly bring them back, and perhaps
go so far as to apologize, by saying that he thoughtlessly
lugged them off in a drunken frolic. This practice of
^ stealing is apt to surprise and enrage a Freshman more
■^than the '' smoking out." The latter he was in a meas-
ure prepared for by the rumors current in the newspa-
pers, but of the other " custom"^ he had probably had
no previous intimation. By the time the college cata-
logues are issued, during the second week of November,
he has probably grown wary enough to be more on his
guard, though he may not yet have learned that a spe-
cific aim of the Sophomores is to seize upon these pam-
phlets, so soon as the Freshmen shall have purchased
them. On the day of publication, the catalogues are

252 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

distributed among the latter by their division officers, at
the close of the noon recitation, and charged against
them on their term-bills, at the rate of ten cents per
copy. They are given to the upper classes in the same
way, but the Fresh are of course the chief purchasers,
many an individual taking a dozen or more copies. If
the Sophs should meet such a one alone upon the street
they would not hesitate to wrest his catalogues from
him forthwith, but their usual procedure is to visit the
Freshmen's rooms while they are at dinner, and then
rob them of their pamphlets. A Freshman's tobacco,
catalogues, and umbrellas are looked upon as lawful
prey by many who scorn the indiscriminate pilfering of
his possessions. Cap snatching is also quite a common
practice. Though a Soph would not steal a cap from a
Freshman's room, he would think it a great exploit to
"gobble up" the head coverings of an entire club from
the hall or entry of the house where they were taking
supper. A solitary Fresh passing near a crowd of
Sophs also stands in danger of losing his hat, particu-
larly if it be evening. To such an extent was this prac-
tice carried by the Sophs of '71, that the Fresh of '72
were for a time in the habit of Vvearing caps made of
paper, when they went upon the street after dark, so that
if they chanced to be " scalped " their loss would be
trifling.

It was said that " smoking out " is generally practised
upon Freshmen before they become known as individ-
uals. "Hazing," — which according to the dictionary
would incTucTelhis, and all other outrages, annoyances,
and impositions to which Freshmen are exposed — signi-
fies among Yale men the punishment of those who have
become personally obnoxious to the Sophomores. It
is a more deliberate and cold-blooded thing than " smok-
ing out," in which the participants do not — certainly at

THE STUDENT LIFE, 253

the outset — entertain any feelings of revenge or malice
toward their victim. The one thing naturally leads to
the other, however, and a " subject " for " smoking out "
who " shows fight," and perhaps gets the better of his
entertainers, may be marked for more elaborate and
formal attentions. A Fresh who is notably " loud " and
defiant in his bearing ; who takes pains to hurl con-
tempt upon his " natural rulers " ; who returns an " Oh,
Soph ! " for every " Oh, Fresh ! " more than all, who tells
tales to the faculty, is thought a proper subject for
"bringing down." The self-appointed committee who
are to carry out this process manage to entrap their
man in a close carriage — and this, by means of disguises
and other deceptions, is not usually a very difficult mat-
ter— where he is gagged, blindfolded, and rendered
powerless. They then drive off to the appointed ren-
dezvous, some desolate locality like East or West Rock
where others are perhaps awaiting them. The indigni
ties here inflicted depend upon the ingenuity of the tor
turers and the extent of their dislike for the victim

rThe cutting off of his hair is the commonest device
, Perhaps they mark upon his cheek the numeral of his
I class, employing for the purpose some chemical that will
remain for several days indelible, or strip him and
smear his naked body with paint ; or pour cold water
upon him ; or practice certain things which cannot be
named : finally leaving him, half-clothed, with a gag in
his mouth perhaps, and his hands bound behind him, to
find his way back to the city ; or possibly dropping him,
in this plight, within the walls of the cemetery, where
he would probably have to stay until the opening of the
gates in the morning. This is what "hazing" means
at Yale, and it has been thought proper to be thus ex-
plicit in describing it. It should be understood that
while all the things mentioned have, on the authoritv of

254 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

accredited rumor, really been practised, they have not
all, or many of them, been practised at any one time.
And it may be further stated that, of late years and
probably always, the cases of hazing have averaged
less than one for every class. It is a sort of freshman
bugbear, whose occasional appearance induces a belief
in its continual presence. There can of course be no
word of defence said Jn favor ofthe barbarity, yet it is
nearly as certain that the victims of it always bring it
upon themselves. For this reason, however great may
be the indignation against the hazers, there is very little
sympathy felt for the hazed, even by his own classmates.
The justice of the " taking down " has to be recognized,
even though its high-handedness be deprecated. On
the other hand, no one is surprised when a hazed
Freshman afterwards turns out to be a " big man " in
his class, and stands high in college repute. As for
one's conduct toward " smokers out," this may be said :
once in his room there is no chance for a boy of ordi-
nary physique to make an effective defence against them.
If he be of the heroic mould, and wishes to " die game,"
he may be enabled, by singling out an individual inter-
loper, to " smash " him, with the certainty of being him-
self " smashed " in return. A more logical proceeding
for a boy of self-respect, is to remain passive but obey
no orders at any price. Abuse of a lay figure is not
exhilarating — even for Sophomores. A more natural
and alas! common one is to obey just so far as may
seem necessary to escape personal violence. With suf-
ficient warning on both sides, a pistol-shot through the
door is the surest way to scatter a crowd of Sophs
pressing against it, and though they vow dire vengeance
against him in consequence, a Freshman who thus de-
fends himself will not be likely afterwards to suffer at
their hands, save for some additional reason. The

THE STUDENT LIFE. 255

attempt to drive Sophomores out of a room by a threat-
ening display of a pistol is, on the other hand, sheer folly.

Another amusement of this gentry, is, of an evening,
when passing a Freshman's room which fronts upon the
street, to shout, " Put out that light, Freshie ! " and, if
the obedient Freshman douses his glim, to cry, " Light
her up again. Fresh ! " and so to keep him at work
until the Sophs grow tired of the sport. If he pays no
attention to their clamors, or even shouts back a defi-
ance, they will probably let him alone, though, if the
locality be a safe one for the practice, they may hurl a
stone through his window in return. " Oh Fresh !
Freshie ! Freshman ! " are the cries which constantly
greet him upon the street, especially when he passes
near a crowd of Sophs, seated upon the college fence,
or hanging about their club headquarters after dinner,
in which cases delicate personal compliments are added,
as : " What a pretty Freshman ! " " See his new neck-
tie ! " " How his boots shine ! " " Keep step there,
Freshie ! Left ! right ! left ! Left ! right I left !" and so
on. Another diversion for a crowd of scoffing Sopho-
mores is to attend the gymnasium, and make comments
on the Freshmen there performing, — thereby of course
adding to the latter's self-complacency and ease of mind,
— or, when tired of this, to assist them in their exer-
cise ) forcing a Freshman by means of various " encour-
agements," to dance upon the spring-board, or swing a
club, or climb a rope or ladder, and so on. The favorite
song of the Sophs is called " Bingo," and winds up
with a wild yell of, "B! I! N! G! 0\—My! Poor!!
FRESH ! ! ! " These practices which have been men-
tioned are confined almost exclusively to the first term
of the year, and in great part to the first half of that
term.

Within a week from the opening day, notices, devised

256 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

by " leading men," are circulated through the freshman
division rooms, announcing that " there is to be a rush
on Library street to-night at seven o'clock and every
man must be there to defend the honor of the class."
Sometimes the Fresh assemble and find no Sophs to
meet them, sometimes the reverse is the case j but sup-
posing both parties to be in readiness at the appointed
time, each forms in solid mass, with its heaviest men in
the front rank, and rushes towards its opponent, en-
deavouring to sweep it from the walk and street, go
through it, break it up and disorganize it generally. As
a preliminary, there are of course defiant songs, outcries
and a general interchange of compliments. But the
rush : a seething, struggling mass of men, shoving,
crushing, trampling one another, snatching caps and
tearing clothes, fighting for dear life to work their way
through with some show of unbroken ranks. The force
of the first attack having spent itself, the parties draw
off and reorganize for another onset, and the process is
again gone through with. The result is apt to be a
drawn battle in which each side claims the victory.
The Freshmen generally have the advantage in numbers,
the Sophomores in experience and discipline ; there are
Juniors to marshal the former, and perhaps Seniors
may help the latter, though sometimes Juniors and
Seniors may both join the Freshmen if they are un-
equally matched with their opponents. The interference
of the college authorities quickly breaks up a Library street
rush, and with a few cries of "Faculty ! faculty ! " the
combatants scatter before many can be identified, since
those who are caught are heavily " marked " or even
"suspended." There is in fact so much danger of this,
that it is getting common to appoint as a place for the
" trial of strength " Hamilton Park, the ball ground out-
side the city, where, at the close of some match-game of

THE S TUDENT LIFE. 257

ball, which serves as an excuse for assembling, the par-
ties can draw up their ranks and " rush " one another
without fear of interruption. After one or two " square
rushes," at the Park or elsewhere, every one's " honor "
is for the time satisfied, and no more formal trials of the
kind are attempted for the term. A party of Sophs,
marching up from a regatta, or from a visit to the post-
office, or in any way chancing to be together, will usually
make any Freshman they may meet " clear the track,"
or be brushed off the sidewalk ; and if the latter are in
sufficient force to resist, there may be some scuffling and
confusion. But these extempore rencounters are not
called rushes.

Freshmen are not " allowed" by the Sophomores to
carry bangers, nor yet to wear the style of hat variously
known as beaver, stove-pipe, and plug, until the last
Sunday of the second term. About the middle of that
term, however, they open hostilities upon a certain day,
usually a Wednesday or Saturday afternoon, by a grand
display of bangers ; — a large crowd of Fresh marching
about the principal streets of the town, ringing these
clubs upon the pavement by way of defiance, and per-
haps displaying a beaver hat or two besides. This chal-
lenge is accepted by the Sophomores, and in the evening
a " banger rush" takes place. Most of the bangers
which were swung so valiantly in the afternoon have
been laid aside, and only one or two are brought out in
the evening by the Freshmen who are to act as cham-
pions. The others flock about those to form a body-
guard against the expected attacks of the Sophomores,
since the rush is begun by the latter for the purpose of
wresting away the bangers and thereby vindicating their
authority. Perhaps it takes place at the post-office, di-
rectly after supper, or on Chapel street, or in some
obscure locality, at a later hour of the evening. If on

258 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Saturday night, it happens at a very late hour. The
freshman societies, adjourning at about the same time,
join one another in front of Delta Kap hall, near the
corner of Church street, and march up Chapel in close
array, perhaps singing some defiant song. The Soph-
omores may await them at some crossing and there
pounce upon them, or march along up Chapel street, on
the opposite side of the way. Finally, an onset is made :
Freshmen and Sophomores struggle and twist together,
roll each other in the mud and slush, lose and regain
the all-important banger, and are at last dispersed by
the policemen or faculty or both. If an arrest is made,
both classes raise the cry of " Yale ! Yale !" and try to
rescue the unfortunate from the clutches of the peelers,
in which they often succeed. Force failing, they may
attempt to bargain for his release by the promise to
quietly disperse. There is always money enough in a
crowd to " bail out" any who may be arrested, so that a
student seldom passes a night in the lock-up, and the
subsequent fines do not much trouble him, for if a poor
man his comrades make up the amount. The worst
feature of his arrest is the bringing his name to the
ears of the faculty, whose mandates are more to be
dreaded than those of the courts. It is a habit of the
New Haven policemen, at the time of a rush, to arrest
some upper-class man who may be quietly watching the
sport ; — this being an easier procedure than the seizure
of one of the actual combatants, and serving quite as
well, in the eyes of the general public, for a proof of
official vigilance. Banger rushes, after the first, are of
a rather intermittent character^ happening, off and on,
for the rest of the term. When a solitary Fresh, care-
lessly swinging his banger, is pounced upon by several
Sophs, and cannot escape by flight, he clings to the
sacred cane, and shouts with all his might the numeral

THE STUDENT LIFE. 259

of his class. This generally brings, both friends and
enemies, and he becomes the central figure of a rush, in
very short order. " Beaver rushes" are of the same
general character, except that the Sophs, even though
they fail to get possession of the hat, are quite certain
to smash it, which is almost as gratifying. For this rea-
son the wearing of beavers in advance of the traditional
time is too expensive a sport to be indulged in by more
than a few individuals. Sometimes a banger or beaver
rush takes place on the ice of Lake Saltonstall, four
miles from the city, when crowds have assembled there
for the nominal purpose of skating. Rushes here, as at
Hamilton Park, are free from the reproach of disturbing
anyone but the participants ; but for the past two years
these banger rushes of the second term have been aban-
doned altogether. A Freshman never defies a Sopho-
more on Sunday, by displaying either banger or beaver,
nor does the latter make depredations on that day,
though at any other time he will confiscate a Freshman's
club or hat wherever he finds them.

The rush seems to be a sort of substitute for the old
foot-ball game, — abolished by the faculty in 1857, —
though perhaps it also flourished at the same time with
it. About a month after the opening of the term, a
notice was posted at the Lyceum door, challenging the
Sophomores to meet the Freshmen in the annual game
of foot-ball,, and signed by three of the latter, in behalf
of the entire class. A notice, accepting the challenge,
appointing the green as the place, and half-past two of
a particular Wednesday or Saturday afternoon as the
time for the trial, was in turn nailed up at the Athe-
naeum door, attested by the signatures of three sophomore
committee men, and usually headed by some poetical
quotation welcoming the Fresh to destruction. The
Freshmen supplied the ball ; umpires were chosen from

26o FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

among graduates or upper-class men ; spectators from
the upper classes and the town covered the State House
steps and other convenient places for looking on ; and
the game began. Better than any possible account from
one who has never seen it, is this description of the
sport, written, after graduation, by a man who regretted
its abolishment, — a member of the class of '58, who was
killed at the head of his regiment :

" Off with your coat, man, if you don't want it torn.
Don't you hear the ' warning' ? That is Jones, the best
player in the sophomore class. He steps back, runs
forward, and up goes the ball, way over the heads of our
side. Lucky you were back there by the steps to catch
it. Good ! well done ! Stop ! don't kick it ; this is
Rushing game ; give Brown your hat and let him run
one way hiding it in his bosom ; and while he makes
that diversion you run the other. Now then ! Run !
Never mind those fellows who run out to head you off ;
dodge them if you can, and if you are caught, hang on
to the ball like grim death. ''Hi! 'Fifty-four! 'Fifty-
five ! Stop hifn ! Quick ! this way ! Hold him ! Push !
Get the ball!'' But you can no longer distinguish sep-
arate sounds. You are now the center of a dense mass
of men, shouting, shoving, dragging, struggling, swaying
to and fro toward either side of the field. You know
that you have one man by the throat who is trying to
seize the ball, and in the exultation of conscious power
you don't see that he has you by the hair. There is an
unsatisfactory sensation in your legs which you after-
wards conclude must have been produced by the stamp-
ing and kicking of a hundred boot-heels ; but you don't
mind that, for one of your battered limbs is twined
round your adversary's, so that the next move of the
crowd must bring him down. Ah ! there it goes, but
the sway is in the wrong direction, and brings you down

THE STUDENT LIFE, 2 6 r

under him; and what is worse, under that forest of
boots ! But the ball ! your sacred trust ! He lets it go —
we are close to the fence — and whistle — away it flies just
as some big heel comes crushing against your head

" ' Do you feel better now ? '

" ' Oh yes ! stunned a little, that's all. But the ball,
is it over ? '

" ' Over ! I should think so. But you must go home
now, you are hurt.'

" ' Hurt ! I am not hurt. I hope you don't think I
mind a little blood. Pshaw ! come and join the next
game !'"

The class of '6i was the last to post a challenge. It
was accepted by '60, and everything was appointed in
due order, when the faculty voted that the game should
not take place, and it has never been heard of since.
From the fact that it had been dispensed with by some
classes before that, the custom seems to have been some-
what on the wane, or it might not have died so quietly.
The Sophomores, being experts, were of course almost
inevitably the victors. Sometimes, however, both parties
claimed the victory, as in 1853, when a fierce dispute
arose between the Fresh of '57 and the Sophs of '56,
and a four-page sheet called the Arbiter was issued, " in
the interest of impartial justice," to defend the claims of
the Freshmen. " Songs of the Ball," too, were every
year written, printed, and sung by the victors, and doubt-
less by the vanquished also ; and the leader of the vic-
torious class was usually rewarded with a boquet or sim-
ilar token of approval, sent by the lady witnesses of the
spectacle, the reception whereof he publicly acknowl-
edged. Foot-ball had been a popular college pastime
for full half a century at the time of the abolishment of
the trial of strength between the two lower classes
which annually happened in its name. Two years later,

2 62 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

a municipal law forbade the students to use the green as
a play ground, and so the sport itself, as well as the
annual struggle which was its outgrowth, became obso-
lete. In the fall of 1870 the custom of kicking ball
was revived somewhat, — the freedom of the college yard
being granted for the purpose,— and there were two or
three match games played at Hamilton Park between
the Juniors and Sophomores.

A disgracefi^ practice — which originated in the class
of '70, and which bids fair to become a settled "cus-
tom," if indeed it has not become one already — is the
painting upon the fences and walks in the vicinity of
the colleges, and even upon the buildings themselves,
the numeral of the freshman class, in gigantic characters,
with perhaps an " Oh, Soph ! " added. This unspeak-
ably childish procedure is presumably intended as a de-
fiance to the class above. The Freshmen who are thus
guilty of sneaking out at midnight with brush and paint-
pot to perpetrate this imbecile barbarism are not known
to their classmates, who condemn the practice as
heartily as do all the rest of college. This is one of the
occasions where a few individual fools are able to act in
the name of and disgrace an entire class and college.
The men in '70 who begun the business are most of all
to blame, for the traces of their bad work remained
next year, to suggest the idea to their freshman succes-
sors. The worst of these accordingly felt called upon
to mark "'71" in still larger characters, and in still
more prominent places, than '"70" had been marked.
The next year Freshmen thought it a brave deed to im-
prove on their predecessors. And so it has gone on.
The worst thing about it being that the deed is done
before a freshman class is well enough organized to
make its opinion condemning it felt by each individual ;
and when done the infamy is practically indelible. A

THE STUDENT LIFE. '^^^

re. of the -6, sophs ^^^^ose do- a^^ »;'*-;X
aaubed ^V'^VlkTcedThe: in toad daylight to
^^"k :;rirfdr classmates. The Freshman

^nrt exchange" was the bill issued by the '70 Fresh-
et ^^nf Sophomo^s wt ..eP^^^^

Ja. blaring the numeral of their class upon the h.ghest

^tlLf SSe practice of the Freshmen, which
folaU -s'put an end to before the panUm
nuisance commenced, was known as "g^'^-'f "f °
the ni»ht before Thanksgiving day, crowd of Fresh
: nVere wont to range about the city, u-^^-PP-^ ^^^
.ates of the citizens, carrying them off for some

2 62 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

a municipal law forbade the students to use the green as
a play ground, and so the sport itself, as well as the
annual struggle which was its outgrowth, became obso-
lete. In the fall of 1870 the custom of kicking ball
was revived somewhat, — the freedom of the college yard
being granted for the purpose, — and there were two or
three match games played at Hamilton Park between
the Juniors and Sophomores.

A disgracefi^ practice — which originated in the class
of '70, and which bids fair to become a settled ''cus-
tom," if indeed it has not become one already — is the
painting upon the fences and walks in the vicinity of
the colleges, and even upon the buildings themselves,
the numeral of the freshman class, in gigantic characters,
with perhaps an " Oh, Soph ! " added. This unspeak-
ably childish procedure is presumably intended as a de-
fiance to the class above. The Freshmen who are thus
guilty of sneaking out at midnight with brush and paint-
pot to perpetrate this imbecile barbarism are not known
to their classmates, who condemn the practice as
heartily as do all the rest of college. This is one of the
occasions where a few individual fools are able to act in
the name of and disgrace an entire class and college.
The men in '70 who begun the business are most of all
to blame, for the traces of their bad work remained
next year, to suggest the idea to their freshman succes-
sors. The worst of these accordingly felt called upon
to mark "'71" in still larger characters, and in still
more prominent places, than '"70" had been marked.
The next year Freshmen thought it a brave deed to im-
prove on their predecessors. And so it has gone on.
The worst thing about it being that the deed is done
before a freshman class is well enough organized to
make its opinion condemning it felt by each individual ;
and when done the infamy is practically indelible. A

THE STUDENl^ LIFE. 263

few of the '69 Sophs whose doors and windows were
daubed in this way, seized upon the first Freshmen who
came to hand, and forced them in broad daylight to
scrub off the work of their classmates. The Freshman
who climbed up the Lyceum lightning rod and painted
" '64 " upon the white face of the college clock, did a
thing whose difficulty somewhat atoned for its foolish-
ness ; but in this cowardly disfigurement of the college
buildings there is absolutely no redeeming feature. A
somewhat analagous, though far less disreputable, prac-
tice, occasionally in vogue among the Freshmen, is the
issuing of printed handbills in ridicule of their superiors.
Though the sarcasm is often weak, there is at least an
attempt to say something, and the bills even if pasted
up can be torn down again. " Give me that banger,
P'reshie, or I'll tell the faculty," were the words upon a
'69 poster, which was issued to acquaint college with the
fact that a Sophomore, by the use of this threat, had
forced a Fresh to surrender a banger which he had
stolen from the former's room. Similarly, " '69 below
par ;. Sophs selling at a discount at the Hamilton Park
stock exchange," was the bill issued by the '70 Fresh-
men, when no Sophomores went to the Park to rush
them at the time expected. To pull off one of the
pointers of the clock upon the Lyceum tower is often an
object of freshman or even sophomore ambition. The
'70 Freshmen once, in the night time, placed a white
flag bearing the numeral of their class upon the highest
pinnacle of the Library.

Another disreputable practice of the Freshmen, which
fortunately was put an end to before the painting
nuisance commenced, was known as "gate -lifting." On
the night before Thanksgiving day, crowds of Fresh-
men were wont to range about the city, unshipping the
gates of the citizens, carrying them off for some dis-

264 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

tance, or making a pile of them in the college yard.
Thither the next morning would assemble the irate
owners, in search for their property, at whom the Fresh
would shout, " Lift up your gates ! " as they carried them
away. It happened that the gate stealing Freshmen of
'69 came to grief in this wise : A pair of them were
arrested by the police, shut up over night with the com-
mon criminals, heavily fined by the judge next day, and
suspended by the faculty for the space of a term. Since
then, few traces of the " custom " have been made mani-
fest. On the night in question, two innocent Freshmen
who chanced to be upon the street were seized upon by
the peelers and locked up with the others, in spite of
their protestations. They of course escaped conviction,
though held by the newspapers to be equally guilty with
the others, and to owe their release to good luck, — in-
stead of to the real fact, that they had no possible con-
nection with the matter.

The street lamps are among the things which suffer
at the hands of students. Several '69 Freshmen had a
habit of " collecting " from inside the lamps the little
strips of glass on which the names of the streets were
painted. The " value " of one of these signs was pro-
portionate to the difficulty of obtaining it, — the central
streets being of course the most dangerous localities in
which to " work," and the signs nearest the police head-
quarters the ones most eagerly desired. Lamps are
oftener smashed by Sophomores or other upper-class
men than by Freshmen. Those in the vicinity of the
colleges, especially, are apt to be broken pretty con-
stantly by snow balls in the winter time, and do not fare
much better at other seasons. Blowing them to pieces
with fire-crackers is a common diversion as Fourth of
July approaches. One particular lamp, on High street,
back of the Library, is notably unfortunate. The glass

THE S TUDENT L IFE. 265

is seldom allowed to remain in it whole for twenty-four
successive hours. Frequenters of the gymnasium prac-
tice upon it as a target. Not content with smashing the
glass, its enemies have at times lugged off the lamp
frame bodily, and suspended it in the college yard, at
the same time breaking off the burner, and setting fire
to the direct stream of gas. Several years ago, the post
itself was blown up with gunpowder, and the gas from
the main pipe ignited, thereby raising an alarm of fire.
It was a year or two before the post was replaced, but
as the same old practices have been renewed, the
powers-that-be would probably consult their own interest
if they again discontinued it, and left that unrighteous
locality again in the dark. The present plan of having
the lamp guarded constantly by a policeman only aggra-
vates its misfortunes.

Freshmen, though they do not institute, at least take
part in and pay for the " Thanksgiving Jubilee," which
celebration may therefore appropriately find a place in
this chapter. It is managed by a committee of sixteen,
— four from each class, half of whom are appointed by
Linonia and half by Brothers, — and is held first in the
hall of one society and then in that of the other in alter-
nate years. .The freshman committee-men solicit sub-
scriptions— a dollar or less being the amount ordinarily
expected — to defray the expenses of the exhibition, and
when these are paid in to the upper-class committee-
men the Freshmen receive in return admission tickets
to the show. Armed with these they assemble in front
of Alumni Hall on the night appointed, some time before
half-past seven, when it is announced that the doors
will be open, each one eager to have a first chance at
the seats. Perhaps while clamoring for admission they
notice that no upper-class men are to be seen about the
entrance, and wonder that the "managers" within are
13 ^■

^^ entrai

L

266 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

able to produce such an uproar. Half-past seven. The
doors fly open ; there are no ticket-takers ; up rush the
Freshmen to the hall. Dismay fills them as they enter
it, for it is crowded already! Across one end is
stretched a stage, with drop-curtain and footlights.
Close to this, on comfortuble settees, are ranged the
Seniors with their invited guests from among the recent
alumni ; behind them are the Juniors ; then the Sopho-
mores, upon wooden benches, or standing ; and close
to the furthest wall the few empty benches left for the
Freshmen ! These are filled in an instant, and still the
crowd surges up from below. The rear men, not un-
derstanding the state of the case, press resistlessly up-
ward, and the jam becomes terrific. Freshmen cling to
the window-sills, hang from the door-casings, stick in
some way to every inch of projecting surface that can be
made to furnish a foothold, and sway to and fro under
the impetus of new arrivals. Nor is the rabble made
up altogether [of Freshmen. Sophomores or other
upper-class men, ignorant of the approved way of gain-
ing access to the hall, or coming too late to profit by it,
members of the professional schools and other outsiders,
struggle and pant with the rest, or desperately attempt
to work their way through the solid mass of humanity,
and join their friends at the front. A private stair-
case in the rear of the hall is the portal through which
the Seniors, and the initiated generally, are always ad-
mitted,— to the surprise and confusion of the rabble.
Awaiting the rise of the curtain, the seated portion of
the audience smoke, sing, yell at the Fresh to make less
noise, suddenly rise up to see what the matter is in the
rear, and sit down without finding out, discuss the pro-
gramme,— which is distributed by being flung in hand-
fuls about the hall, thereby adding to the confusion of
the rabble, who fight desperately to secure the copies as
they- fall, — and otherwise divert themselves.

THE STUDENT LIFE. 267

At last the rising curtain reveals several Seniors upon
the stage, and one of the committee announces that the
first thing in order is the election of officers from
among the Freshmen, — their shortest man to be the
president, and their longest the secretary, of the meet-
ing,— and calls upon the audience to present the candi-
dates. The crowd at once springs to its feet, with a wild
shriek of" Pass him up ! " and two or three short Fresh-
men a|i"e rolled over the heads of the audience, on to the
stage, where they are stretched out upon their backs,
and a gigantic measuring stick, fifteen or twenty feet
long, applied to them. " The shortest " is then an-
nounced by name as president, and his " hight " is men-
tioned in some absurd way as being so many " barley-
corns," or " degrees," or cubit inches " ; then the long
men are passed up and measured in the same manner,
and the one chosen is said to be so many " millimetres "
or "square miles" long; after which both "officers"
are put off the stage and left to shift for themselves in
finding seats or standing places again. As a matter
of fact, the shortest Freshman and the longest one, hearing
of this practice beforehand, often stay away from the
meetings, at least till after the officers are chosen ; so
that the men really measured upon the stage are often
about of the average size. The main thing, however, is
to " keep up the custom," and so long as this is done
in theory, the practice makes little difference. The
Freshmen who are " passed along " with such an ap-
pearance of roughness, are not injured in the process,
save perhaps as to their wearing apparel, which may
thereby become soiled and torn, and accept their fate
in its true light, simply as a joke, in which nothing
serious or degrading is intended by any one.

After the "overture by the orchestra," — a half dozen
professionals hired for the purpose, or an amateur band

268 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

of college musicians, — the first thing on the programme
is the "opening load," which is often "necessarily
omitted" for some assigned reason, such as, " on account
of the lateness of the hour the load could not be
opened," or "because the faculty ordered it unloaded."
Then come two or three plays, between which are sand-
wiched a comic oration and a comic poem, both relating
to college life, and perhaps a display of negro minstrelsy
ends up the show. The names of the committee-men
figure upon the first page of the programme, which, for
the rest, is expressed in the form of a burlesque, as
absurd and ludicrous as the ingenuity and wit of the
committee can devise. Thus we have the " sanguino-
lently and demoniacally loquacious pantomimic repre-
sentation" ; " the spamodically pharmaceutical tragedy" ;
the "mysterious, Milesian, mediaeval, moral-play"; the
"savory, side-splitting farce"; and so on. The min-
strels, likewise, are " tenebriously umbrageous Stygio-
Ethiopian," or " dulcifluously incanting ingrescent,"
ones, or "American citizens of (corked) African
descent." The "oration," or " sermon," or "address,"
is about " the ignitious combustibility of all corroso-in-
flammable matter," or " analytical mathematics as a
means of religious instruction." The poem is an
"epic-ac ode," or a " dorggerel," or a "jocular, jingling
jumble, joining jovial jests in juxtaposition with jubilant
jokes," or is made up of "'class'ical (l)odes." The
music is by the " ' first nine' Yale muses," or the " Med-
dlesome society," or the " dulce strainers," or the " Yale
tooters." The "finale" is omitted* because a certain
" old clo' " man " has stolen the * close' of the perform-
ance," or is " to be had at Moriarty's [a well known ale
seller's] after the show is concluded." " Gentlemen are
requested to wipe their boots before entering the hall,
and are particularly requested not to spit on the backs

THE STUDENT LIFE. 269

of those who sit in front of them." "Freshmen accom-
panied by their mothers or nurses, $1. Theologues,
Law students and other children admitted gratis."
" Students taking seats are expected to occupy them for
the remainder of the year, unless released by the proper
authority." " No two students of different classes can
occupy the same seat, unless they take a seat of the
lower grade ; but if a student has a brother, the two
can sit on the floor together, provided they don't let
their legs hang down." " As the faculty request that all
the students (Theologues included) shall be present at
the exercises, church papers, certifying their presence
will be required. The papers may be handed to the col-
lege carpenter." " Members of the incoming class will
find seats as soon as possible." " No one allowed to be
high except the secretary." " Photographs of the lead-
ing artists can be obtained at 303 Chapel street. Price
$2.50 per dozen." The "point" of many of these tides
and " notices" of course lies in their fatuousness, and
utter want of connection with the things to which they
are joined. The show takes place the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving, and is three hours or more in length.

Thus^ the Jubilee as it existed during '69's "four years
at Yale." Now, as to its earlier and later history.
Originally it was called "Thanksgiving Eve^'' and
always took place upon that Wednesday night. In the
old times, when Linonia and Brothers were something
more than "institutions," the attendance upon their
meetings of that evening was smaller than usual, owing
to the absence of those who had gone home to celebrate
Thanksgiving. Hence the custom arose of giving a
burlesque character to the proceedings. The shortest
Freshman was put in the president's chair, and the
longest one at the secretary's table, and the meeting pro-
ceeded under their auspices, instead of those of the reg-

2 70 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ular upper-class officials. In place of a formal debate,
was held a " raffle" : a number of " questions," mostly
of a bombastic or nonsensical character, were thrown
together in one hat ; the names of those in attendance
in another ; and each man was obliged to speak upon
the question drawn out with his name. The speakers
were expected to be " funny," and were usually only
foolish, — each man consenting to make a silly display of
himself for the sake of witnessing a similar discom-
fiture of the others. Of course, once in a while a really
good thing would be said or a really ludicrous event take
place, but the meetings as a whole, were described as
being dreary enough, spite of the cheers and applause
of those who had made up their minds to appear amused,
under any'circum.stances.

It was in 1855 that the attempt was first made to vary
this traditional celebration. A committee from that
society was appointed to make preparations in Linonia,
and Brothers was invited to attend the show. "When
the eventful night came, we had Linonia hall filled. Our
stage was the vacant space west of the president's desk,
our green room was Calliope hall, our wardrobe, some
old hats, shawls, and coats gathered in college, and a
skirt, cap, veil, etc., from some garret in town. The
performance consisted of such personations as Widow
Bedott's ' 'Kiah, we're all poor creeters.' The man with
forty ailments, who was ' pooty well, thank'ee, heow
deu yeou deu.' M The trial of the case ' Bullum vs.
Boatem.' ' The Suppression of the Press.' The Yan-
kee that was courtin' Betsy Jane, but was 'as well as
usual.' We had, too, the Yankee Orator, one to speak,
one to gesture ; and if anyone had a good song or act,
was known to have hit off any good point in play or char-
ade, he was called for with cries of immense encourage-
ment and prevailing force, after the manner of college

THE STUDENT LIFE. 27 1

audiences, and then he was applauded, as you would
expect by a company bound to make the best and
most of everything. The performances had almost en-
tirely an extemporaneous cast, some parts were entirely
off-hand, and for that very reason all charity was ex-
tended to the actors, and the three hours were closed
with the feeling that we had succeeded and redeemed
the evening."

The next year a joint committee was appointed from
each society, and the show was held in Brothers hall ;
and so it has since gone on, first in one hall, then in the
other. A shortest and a longest Freshman from each
society were chosen presidents and secretaries and seated
in the president's desk. Then there were two presi-
dents and one secretary. Finally, as now, a single one
of each, without distinction of societies, although seats
were always provided for them. Negro minstrels ex-
hibited for the first time at this Eve of '56, and among
other things was a " living bass-viol " impersonated by
the largest man in the senior class. " ' Somebody's '
clothes-line, run three or four times from his neck to his
feet, made the strings ; a cigar box made the bridge ;
his own ears, the keys. The performer walked in his
instrument, tuned it up, and beginning to play, the
huge yet flexible voice of the 'machine' produced the
sounds which were supposed to be the tones of the viol.
This was a success, especially when, in the midst of a
brilliant passage, the instrument collapsed and was carried
out. Another thing was the Hutchinson family intensi-
fied. Another was the celebrated lecture on the won-
derful Gyascutus from the Rocky Mountains, which
wound up with a leap which overwhelmed in utter con-
fusion all the audience nearest the stage." In '57 the
stage for the first time reached across the end of the
hall. The " scenery " v/as made of strips of blue cam-

2 72 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

brie, and the different localities were represented by
placards hung upon the same, as " Forest Scene," " In-
side the Castle," and so on. " One of the most striking
performances of the evening was a solo by prima donna
' Bob ' Stiles. His magnificent bust and arms, the pride
of the gymnasium, were powdered and cosmeticated,
and set off by a low-necked, short-sleeved concert dress.
This dress — black cambric, shining like satin, over
hoops eighteen feet in circumference — was engineered
through the door, when * Bob,' the biggest man in the
class, was led in by Watkins, the littlest man. His solo
began with a delicately-trilled falsetto, set off with the
most languishing attitudes, and wound up suddenly
with a stentorian double bass, which woke the most en-
thusiastic responsive cheer. The performance of that
night held the audience in well-nigh continuous laughter
for four hours." In i860, mention is first made of a
printed programme, of the " opening load," of the " cen-
sor's report," and of the name Thanksgiving Jubilee,
which has since been applied to the show. The " cen-
sor " was a Senior, appointed by the committee, whose
duty it was to get off personal " hits " at the expense of
his auditors, somewhat after the manner of the class
historians on Presentation Day^ and decree the infliction
of absurd " fines " for real or pretended offences. He
was wont to " touch up " a good many Seniors, quite a
number of Juniors, some Sophomores, and the few
Freshmen who had chanced in the space of a term to
make a college reputation of some sort. His " report "
was read from an immense roll, a good many feet in
length, " and in time came to be considered ihe feature
of the entertainment."

Thus the silly inanities of " Thanksgiving Eve," in-
vented for the amusement of the unfortunates who lin-
gered about the college, grew, in the ten years' interval,

THE STUDENT LIFE. 273

to be the "Jubilee" known to '69 men, held in season
to be enjoyed by those who spent Thanksgiving abroad
equally with the ones who stayed behind. Thus, little
by little, it lost its impromptu character, and became
more formal. The tendency to introduce smut and vul-
garity also grew apace, until it culminated in 1865 in
the production of an indecent ftirce, — the "parts" of
which were all sustained by Sophomores, — and a cen-
sor's report that was little better. The faculty, hearing
of the matter, suspended the offenders, and next year
decreed that no female characters should be represented
upon the stage at the Jubilee. They offered the com-
mittee, under certain restrictions, the use of Alumni
Hall, but the offer was not accepted^ and for the first
time since the custom was inaugurated the Jubilee was
abandoned. The money obtained from the Freshmen
for defraying the expenses went to pay for a supper for
the upper-class committee-men. Next year, the pro-
hibition of woman's apparel being still insisted on, the
" female " characters evaded the rule by the employment
of a sort of Turkish costume that served equally well
to distinguish them. Since then the restrictions have
been disregarded altogether ; but the censor's report
has never been revived.

At the Thanksgiving of 1869 a new policy was
adopted in regard to the celebration. An elaborate
stage was erected in the south end of Alumni Hall, and
fitted up with scenery and " properties " from the city
theater. Raised seats and settees were at the opposite
end, and the usual benches filled the intermediate
space. On these sat the classes in order, Seniors
nearest the stage. Freshmen in the rear, while the re-
served seats behind were occupied by ladies and their
attendants, — the admission of the former being the
novel feature of the show. A regular admission fee of
13*

i74 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

a quarter dollar was charged each person, and double
that amount was required for a reserved seat. The
specially-engraved tickets bore a representation of a
turkey. Formal steel-plate invitations to the entertain-
ment were also issued. The hall, of more than twice
the capacity of the society -halls, was crowded, without
being jammed as in days agone, — all but the latest
comers securing seats of some sort. Save for the
absence of tobacco smoke and freshman wranglings,
the character of the show was like that of its predeces-
sors. The opening load, entitled " the perfect stick,"
represented a gigantic glue bottle. The cost of the en-
tertainment was $300, and the receipts fell $50 short
of that sum. The expenses of any previous Jubilee had
never exceeded a third the first named amount.

Last year the Jubilee was for a second time omitted,
— the appointed committee being unwilling to engage
in the work on the conditions offered by the faculty :
that the exhibition should be held in one of the society
halls, that there should be no " female" characters in the
plays, and that the committee should be held individ-
ually responsible for any violations of order or decorum.
The fate of the institution in the future seems uncer-
tain, but if revived at all it will probably be in its older
rather than latest form ; for, though that experiment
was in its way an admitted success, there is a general
sentiment against opening the exhibition to outsiders,
especially to ladies, as a process tending to make the
show more formal and expensiv^e, and to deprive it of
its characteristic and peculiar flavor, as a jolly gather-
ing where the undergraduate sense of fun is allowed
free vent, in the presence of those alone who compre-
hend and appreciate it. If the general public be ad-
mitted, stiifness and formality will come with them ;
their tastes will have to be catered to ; their presence

THE STUDENT LIFE. 275

Will put the college men on their good behavior ; and
the old heartiness and abandon, the careless mingling
of all the classes in an evening's joviality, which made
the Jubilee unique among college celebrations, will soon
disappear altogether. So say the opponents of reform,
and their case seems a strong one. Alumni Hall may
wisely be retained as the place of meeting hereafter,
and all undergraduates taxed equally in support of the
exhibition. But it is a gratuitous assumption to suppose
that the students, left to themselves, will act disgrace-
fully, or that a repetition of the indecencies of 1865 can
only be prevented by the presence of ladies at the
Jubilee.

With Presentation Day the Seniors close their active
connection with the college, and at chapel prayers the
following morning the Juniors occupy their vacated
seats ; the Sophomores take those of the Juniors, and
the Freshmen those of the Sophomores, where in old
times the latter were wont to leave upright pins, chalk
dust, bits of pitch, and things of that sort, for the ben-
efit and improvement of their successors. About the
year 1850, the custom arose among the Freshmen of cel-
ebrating their accession to sophomoric dignity by a per-
formance called a "Pow-wow," upon the night of Pres-
entation Day. It was held upon the State House steps,
and consisted of burlesque speeches, songs and poems,
in glorification of the performers and ridicule of the
class above them, and the unpopular tutors from whose
reign they were soon to be set free. The Sophomores
attended and endeavored — by mock applause, cheers
and outcries — to drown the voices of the speakers ; and
the Freshmen in turn, by a deafening blast of tin horns,
would overwhelm these sophomoric interruptions. Be-
tween the two, little could be heard of the speakers'
remarks, which, like the printed programmes, were

276 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

intended to be sharp and witty, but->\vere oftener vulgar
and indecent. Among the "subjects" and "speakers"
at one of the best of the Pow-wows were : " Salute-a-tory,
by a Big W(h)ig," " Poem, ' Pipes,' by a Broken Reed,"
" Stump Speech, by a Wood-be DeForest," and " Expect
Oration, by one who chews-es." This description of the
Pow-wow in 1857 will apply well enough to them all :
" About nine o'clock, blasts from sundry tin horns in
the freshman quarters reminded the weary and sleeping
that Presentation Day * was n't dead yet.' As it grew
later and darker. Freshmen, covered as to their faces
with burnt-cork, Freshmen with striped pants. Freshmen
with hooped skirts. Freshmen with hoofs and tails, mild
Freshmen with coats turned inside out, fierce Freshmen
with big beards and bob-tailed trainer-coats. Freshmen
with bears' heads, and Freshmen with bare heads — in
fme, Freshmen with all sorts of conceivable and practi-
cable disguises, each one armed with a banger as big as
he could lift, and a tin horn as big as he could blow,
issued from their rooms, and marching sternly across the
college-yard, assembled at the State House steps, for
the purpose of celebrating their entrance into sopho-
more year. After orating, in spite of the noisy Sopho-
mores, who kept up a continual shouting of ' Hear ! '
' Hear ! ' ' Good ! ' ' Time for you. Fresh, to be in bed !'
and sundry other equally entertaining and witty remarks,
they sang a Greek song that looked quite natural, and
then formed the procession. The boarding schools
were serenaded as usual, only one, however, acknowledg-
ing the compliment. At half past two in the morning
squads of muddy Freshmen crossed the college-green,
and disappeared among the brick buildings, there to
dream for an hour or two of hobgoblins, Greek songs,
mud-puddles, serenades, fair faces, morning flunk, and
dunning Pow-wow committees."

THE STUDENT LIFE. 277

Like other things of the sort, the ceremony became
year by year more elaborate. A band of music was en-
gaged, the place of meeting was lit up by blue lights and
fireworks, transparencies were carried in the procession,
and more grotesque and costly disguises made use of.
But the excesses of Pow-wow brought it under the ban
of the faculty, and that of the class of ^dCi, the last one
ever projected, had to be given up. Next year the
threat to expel two thirds of the class prevented even
the attempt at its revival, and it has never since been
heard of at the college. In 1864, however, the Fresh-
men " celebrated," at a certain hour of Presentation
Day, by " marching up and down Chapel street as a
body-guard to ' Hannibal,' the college candy-man, who,
attired in a scholar's habit, a huge book under his arm,
a pair of eye-glasses over his nose, one of the new red
biennial caps of the Sophomores upon his head, and a
sporting cane in his hand, was personating the high feel-
ings of the newly fledged Juniors as well as any negro
could."

As the " Biennial" was superseded by the " Annual"
examinations, so the " Biennial caps" gave way to "An-
nual caps," and the " Biennial Jubilee" found a successor
in the " Annual Dinner." On the morning of Presenta-
tion Day the Freshmen now assume their Annual hats.
These are of the well known " Oxford" pattern — ahead-
piece fitting close to the skull, surmounted by a stiff
square, with a tassel depending from the corner on the
left side. Each class varies the color. The cap of '69
was blue with white tassel, that of '70 was white, that
of '68 mouse- color, and the red cap of '66 has been
already noted ; before that, a sort of wicker-work had
been sometimes employed. The nine committee-men
wear hats of velvet with tassels of gilt, and so bargain
with the hatter that these cost them nothing, their price

278 FO UR YEA RS AT YALE.

being made up to him by his charging a higher rate for
the common kind sold to the class. The members of
the committe also wear, as a badge of office, tiny forks
of gold, inscribed " Annual" with the numeral of the
class. For these they are themselves supposed to pay.
A freshman committee-man of the class of '69 has the
credit of making this addition to collegiate insignia.
The hats are worn from the time of assuming them
until the close of the examinations, especially during
the progress of the latter ; though of late the examina-
tions open within a few days of Presentation, instead of
after a three weeks' interval, as was the case in the
time when " Biennials" and Biennial hats were in vogue.

The last session of freshman " Annual" closes at noon
of the Thursday before Commencement. An hour or
two later, the emancipted Fresh assemble in the college
yard, and led off by a band of music, — after serenading
and cheering their division officers, or the most poiDular
ones, — file down Chapel street to the railway station or
steamboat dock, and there embark on car or boat for
some one of the many sea-side resorts — like Savin Rock,
or Branford Point, or Charles Island — which lie about
New Haven ; singing on the way the songs of jubilation
which have been written and printed for the occasion, or
giving forth the old-time melodies with which they are
more familiar. Arrived at the appointed locality, while
the committee bustle about to see that nothing be lack-
ing to the " perfect feast" for which they had previously
made the arrangements, and the band plays a lively
strain, and the denizens of the hotel gaze in wonder at
the new comers, one of the chief actors of the day — •
" the historian of the first division" — is arranging his
manuscripts and clearing his throat, in readiness for the
fulfilment of his duty.

At length a table is set up under the trees, the Fresh-

THE STUDENT LIFE. ^79

men lie upon the ground in a circle around it, the histo-
rian doffs his hat and mounts his improvised rostrum,
and the reading begins. A " class history" is nothing
unless " funny." The committee select from each divis-
ion the one whom they consider its wittiest man (latterly
the division itself elects him), and he compiles a " his-
tory" of his fellows, wherein he attempts the rather dif-
ficult task of " touching up" their individual peculiari-
ties," in a way to afford amusement to all, and offense
to none." Ludicrous blunders in the recitation room,
absurd translations from Greek or Latin authors, impos-
sible demonstrations of Euclid's problems, all the laugh-
able mishaps of a year of a hundred and fifty Freshmen,
are carefully collected by the historians, and "set off" in
as "taking" a style as they chance to be masters of
Everything depends upon the manner of telling a comic
story, and if the historian is fit for his place, he keeps
his auditors in a constant roar of laughter to the very
last word of his narrative. At its close, whether good
or bad, " three times three" cheers are given for the his-
torian, and as many more for the division he represents.
The history devotes particular attention to the exploits
of those who have been dropped or suspended from the
class, and these former members who are present, — and
there usually are some such — are forced, after their " his-
tories" have been read, to mount the table and " make
a speech" in response, which speech is always vocifer-
ously applauded by the others. The same process is
also gone through with in the case of any one in regard
to whom anything particularly " good" (which may often
mean "bad") happens to be related, or from whom
" something funny" is likely to be elicited.

The reading of one or more histories having been
finished, the crowd sit down to the dinner. There are
special bills-of-fare, adorned with the names of the class

28o FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

and its committee, and the fare itself is something won-
derful. Course succeeds course, and is partaken of with
a relish and gusto never before experienced. The joy-
ous feeling of relief from the long-dreaded bugbear of
examination gives a zest to the entertainment that noth-
ing else could afford. All sorts of " sentiments " are
offered and accepted with the greatest enthusiasm, and
" cheers " are given for every body and every thing that
can be imagined. Lemonade, with or without the claret,
is the strongest potable usually upon the bill, and those
in want of something more ardent order it at their own
expense. Quite a number become exhilarated thereby,
but only a few, and sometimes none, get so much the
worse for liquor as to lose their self-command, and re-
quire the attention of their comrades on the homeward
way. During or after the repast the remaining histories
are read, and then come singing, and music and danc-
ing— in which last the maidens from the hotel may be
induced to take part, or a " stag party " of students
alone enter into it. Finally the class ride back to the
city on their special train or steamboat, and arriving
there at midnight or later, perhaps serenade and cheer
their tutors once more, and elicit " speeches " in
acknowledgment, or sing a final song or two, and then,
dismissing the band, join in one loud cheer for the class
and the day, and retire to rest. So ends the first year
of the four.

The last Biennial Jubilee — that of the class of '67 ;
and the first Annual Dinner— that of the class of '68 —
took place upon the same year, 1865, and within a day
or two of each other. Except that it was held at the
end of sophomore instead of freshmen year, the Jubilee
was in all respects like the Dinner that has been
described — though the reading of class histories was a
feature first introduced by the latter. It was said to be

THE STUDENT LIFE, 281.

a custom to invite to each Jubilee the committee who
who had served the class above on a like occasion, but
the '69 men distinct?ly voted that the '68 committee be
not invited to their Dinner, and the old practice has not
since been revived. As already stated, politics usually
interfere in this celebration. Unless all the actual and
possible societies have what they consider "their share"
of the committee-men and historians, there is hard feel-
ing, and perhaps a "split" also. In the class of '67
the members and adherents of one junior society held
the Jubilee in one place, those of the other two in an-
other. The Freshmen of '70, though having no junior
politics, were nevertheless able, by the exclusion of
Gamma Nu men from the committee, to arouse ill-will
enoifgh to keep all members of that society, and a good
many others, from the Dinner. Their successors of '71,
over a curious wrangle in which all the societies of the
first three years were in some way concerned, divided,
like the men of '67, and went half one way and half the
other. Each of the two factions also adopted its own
style of Annual cap. Before setting out for their differ-
ent destinations, on the day of the Dinner, they joined
together in giving their instructors the customary sere-
nades and cheers. Next year, the Freshmen gave up
the Dinner entirely, and not more than half of them
procured Annual hats. Last year, though a committee
was appointed, it was decided to indulge in neither hats
nor Dinner ; but the present year, the latter institution
will be revived in all its glory, by the Fresh of '74.
Its omission by the two preceding classes was due
in some measure to the freshman boat races against
Harvard in which they engaged, as many thought them-
selves unable to support the expenses of both enter-
prises. As Presentation will hereafter come close upon
Commencement, and follow rather than precede the An-

282 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

nual examinations, it is likely that Annual hats will be
seen no more. The wearing of them had been growing
less and less popular, as Freshmen* came to realize bet-
ter the foolish expensiveness of paying two or three dol-
lars for what was of practical service for but a single after-
noon ; and with the sole remaining pretext for the " cus-
tom " removed, there will probably be no longer even
the pretense of observing it. The Dinner itself, how-
ever, deserves to be perpetuated, for when well man-
aged it may be made the jolliest celebration of the col-
lege course.

It is easy to see, in all the contemptuous and abusive
treatment of Freshmen, mentioned in the present chap-
ter and elsewhere, an illustration of the tenacity with
which an old tradition clings to a college, and keeps
alive there the relics of a code which has itself long
been obsolete and forgotten. The following quotations
from the laws which were enforced as early as 1760 show
the servitude to which the Freshmen of a century ago
were obliged to submit : " It being the duty of the
Seniors to teach Freshmen the laws, usages and cus-
toms of the college, to this end they are empowered to
order the whole freshman class, or any particular mem-
ber of it, to appear, in order to be instructed and
reproved, at such time and place as they shall appoint ;
when and where every Freshman shall attend, answer
all proper questions, and behave decently." "The
Freshmen are forbidden to wear their hats in the col-
lege-yard until May vacation ; nor shall they afterwards
v.'ear them in college or chapel. No Freshman shall
wear a gown, or walk with a cane, or appear out of his
room without being completely dressed, and with his
hat ; and whenever a Freshmen either speaks to a supe-
.rior or is spoken to by one, he shall keep his hat off un-
til he is bidden to put it on." " A Freshman shall

THE STUDENT LIFE. 283

not play with any members of an upper class, without
being asked ; nor is he permitted to use any acts of
familiarity with them, even in study time. In case of
personal insult a Junior may call up a Freshman and
reprehend him. A Sophimore in like case may obtain
leave from a Senior, and then he may discipline a Fresh-
man, not detaining him more than five minutes, after
which the Freshman may retire, even without being dis-
missed, but must retire in a respectful manner."
" Freshmen are obliged to perform all reasonable
errands for any superior, always returning an account of
the same to the persons who send them. When called,
they shall attend and give a respectful answer ; and
when attending on their superior they are not to depart
until regularly dismissed. They are responsible for all
damage done to anything put in their hands by way of
errand. They are not obliged to go for the undergrad-
uates in study-time without permission obtained from
the authority \ nor are they obliged to go for a graduate
out of the yard in study-time. A Senior may take a
Freshman from a Sophimore, a Bachelor from a Junior,
and a master from a Senior. None may order a Fresh-
man in one play-time to do an errand in another."
" Freshmen shall not run in the college 3^ard, nor up
and down stairs, nor call to anyone through a college
window," and so on.

As early as 1775 attempts were made to abolish these
regulations, but "in 1800 we still find it laid down as
the Senior's duty to inspect the manners and customs of
the lower classes and especially of the Freshmen ; and
as the duty of the latter to do any proper errand, not
only for the authorities of the college, but also, within
the limits of one mile, for resident graduates and the two
upper classes." It was not until 1804 that the Fresh-
men were formally exempted from the duty of running

286 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

the Chapel and dining hall before the Seniors ; the dan-
gerous tendency of which irregularities he set forth,
purely, as he said, out of regard for my good. And so
it went on, until — owing to the taciturnity, which, ift ac-
cordance with the previous direction of a friend, I per-
sisted in maintaining — the sport grew tiresome to the
Seniors, and I was dismissed, with a parting admonition
to be more careful with my clothing \ as my cap — which
they had purposely secreted — was only brought to light
after considerable searching." A man named Kane, in
the same class, was also " brought before the Sanhedrim,
and solemnly warned not to follow the course of his
Old Testament namesake, who was doubtless his an-
cestor ; " and all the proceedings of the " lectures "
bear a strong family resemblance to those of the modern
"smokings out," already described, into which they
seem to have degenerated.

CHAPTER II.

SOPHOMORE YEAR.

dooming in College — Drawing and Choosing the Rooms — Trading
of Choices — Rooming Alone — Packing an Entry — Moving —
Rent — Buying and Selling Furniture — Fuel, Water and Light —
Sweeps, Regular and Private — Paraphernalia of a Student's
Room — Its Self-Invited Visitors — Candy Sam, Hannibal, Fine
Day, and the Rest — The Tricks Sometimes Played upon Them
— The College Police, and the Extent of their Interference — The
Charm of Dormitory Life — Sitting on the Fence — Unsuccessful
Attempt to Break up the Practice — Cause of the Failure — Out-
door Singing — Origin of the Practice, and of the Songs — Glee
Clubs, Cecilia, and Beethoven — The Latter's connection with
the College Choir — R. S. Willis's Account of it — And its First
Concert — Its Recent Character and Membership — Concerts and
their Profits — Sophomoric Abuse of Freshmen — Public Senti-
ment concerning It — Areopagus — Nu Tau Phi — Omega Lambda
Chi — A Mock Initiation — Compromises with the Faculty —
Burning the Coal Yard — Base Ball — Yale against Harvard —
The Record with other College and Professional Clubs — Places
and Times Devoted to the Sport — Entertainment of Visitors —
The Burial of Euclid — As Described in 1843 — Fifteen Years
Later — Davenport's Lithograph — The Last Celebration of the
Rite — Similar Ceremonies Elsewhere.

It is in sophomore year that the undergraduates in
onsiderable numbers begin to occupy the college dor-
nitories : the mode of gaining and holding rooms there-
n may therefore appropriately be described at this place.
Hie case of the class of '69 will probably serve as a fair
idex of the comparative proportion of each class room-
ng in college during the four successive years. Of
60 Freshmen in that class, 17 roomed in college ; of
[32 Sophomores, 54; of 128 Juniors, 93 ; and of 119

288 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

Seniors, 107. The rooms are allotted toward the close
of the third term, the " choices " of course being in the
order of the classes. Each applicant signs his name to
a printed blank, which states that he " on honor " in-
tends to occupy a college room during the next year,
with a particular person whom he names as his chum.
These blanks are perhaps distributed, signed, and
handed in during a session of the annual examination,
and the announcement made by the senior tutor of the
hour when he will preside over the drawing, in some
designated recitation room. At the time and place ap-
pointed the interested parties assemble ; the names of
each pair of chums are thrown into a hat and well
shaken up ; then the first pair drawn have the first
choice, the second the next, and so on, until all the
names or choices are exhausted. The senior tutor
makes out an official list of the drawings, pastes it upon
a board, and hands it to the pair at the head of the
list. As soon as they have chosen their room they mark
its number opposite their names, and hand the list to
the ones next in order ; and so it goes on till the last
pair have made their selection, and handed the shingle
back to the senior tutor. These are all to be Seniors
next term, and so have had the pick of all the rooms in
college, without limitation. Next, the senior tutor pre-
sides over a drawing for the prospective Juniors. The
number of rooms allowed their class is limited, and so
a certain number of unlucky applicants fail to secure
any rooms at all. A list of the drawings is again made
out, and on it are indicated the rooms already chosen
by the Seniors. The Juniors having made their selec-
tions, the proceedings in the case of the to-be Sopho-
mores are exactly similar, except that fewer rooms are
allotted to their class, and the number of disappointed
applicants is therefore greater.

THE STUDENT LIFE. 289

There is always more or less " trading of choices "
in every class, after the drawing \ usually, of course,
before the rooms are actually chosen, though sometimes
afterwards. The owners of the first or second choice
may receive a bonus of $75 or even $100 by exchang-
ing it for one of the poorer choices, and proportionate
prices are given for exchanges of choices less unequal.
Choices, however, cannot be directly bought and sold.
A man who has drawn no room at all cannot " buy out"
one more fortunate, since the latter has pledged himself
in advance to " occupy a college room." Except for
this rule, men with no intention of occupying them
could draw college rooms, and by their speculations and
traffic in the same raise the price of rent. No exchang-
ing or trading of rooms is allowed between members of
different classes. If an upper-class man rooms with a
member of a class below him, — as a brother, a cousin,
or an old acquaintance, — he must draw his room with
the class to which his chum belongs. After a man has
drawn a room, his withdrawal into a lower class does
not deprive him of it ; neither, when one of a pair who
have drawn a room withdraws from college altogether,
is a new chum saddled upon the one who remains. The
latter can now have the room to himself, or can even
take in a lower-class chum without causing complaint.
When '69 was in college, the only other way of holding
a college room alone — except in special cases — was for
a man to practise a greater or less amount of deception,
in support of the pretense that he had a chum, — using
for this purpose the name of some accommodating class •
mate who occupied a room in town. The latter was
accredited with a college room,.in the official catalogue,
and charged with the rent of the same upon his term
bill ; with the money to pay which rent the real occu-
pant of course supplied him. The number who en-
14

290 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

gaged in this species of fraud, however, was not large,
and those who insisted on rooming alone generally kept
clear of the college buildings. Now, however, in the
senior class at least, quite a number are allowed to
occupy rooms by themselves.

Of late years South College has been the " first
choice " of the Seniors, and its three upper floors are
entirely taken up by them, as are also the two upper ones
of North, which used to be the favorite. North Middle
is the headquarters of the Juniors, and in South Middle
may be found representatives of all four classes, the
Freshmen upon the ground floor. Sophomores usually
occupy nearly all the ground floor rooms of the other
three colleges mentioned, and some of the rooms on the
fourth floors also. A front is commonly preferred to a
back, a middle to a corner room ; likewise one on the
second story to one on the third, on the third to one
on the fourth, on the fourth to one on the first. The
proximity of a tutor's or professor's room is only a
slight drawback in making a choice. Of course a
room's eligibility depends largely on the character of
the crowd who are to inhabit a particular entry. In the
last two years, especially, the attempt is always made to
" pack " an entry, or at least a floor or two of it, with a
congenial and harmonious crowd. Hence the large
sums often given to effect exchanges of rooms which
are in themselves equally desirable. It sometimes hap-
pens that the owners of a packed entry combine to get
rid of the few disagreeable men quartered among them
by helping make up the bonus whereby more desirable
comrades may be enabled to buy them out. Members
of a particular society often agree to keep together in
choosing their rooms. In North or South Middle you
may perhaps find one or more floors of an entry peo-
pled entirely with Psi U or with DKE Junioi's ; ^nd

THE STUDENT LIFE. 2 9 1

similarly, in South or North, you may observe a half-
dozen or more Bones men or Keys men rooming in
close proximity.

After once occupying a college room a man seldom
goes back to the town again ; though a Sophomore, not
lucky enough to draw a junior room, is sometimes forced
to do it. This is a hardship which should be provided
against by a rule allowing such a one to occupy his old
room for a second year. It is not often the case that a
man holds the same college room for two successive
years. He can usually do it if he chooses, provided of
course he has a right to any room at all, but the advan-
tages to be gained by removal more than compensate for
the trouble of making the change. After drawing his
new room, he has only to sign a blank, ordering the
transfer of his furniture and effects from the old room
to the new, and hand it in to the proper authority before
his departure. The work is done during vacation, un-
der the direction of the faculty, and the cost of the same
charged upon the individual's term-bill. If he chooses,
he himself can directly bargain for and superintend the
removal, — at greater cost of time and money. The an-
nual rent of a college room varies from $12.50 to $50,
according to location, — a man who occupies a room
alone of course paying double, — but as all the furniture
and equipment has to be purchased, the actual disparity
between its cost and that of a room in town is not so
great as appears. Still, everything taken into account,
college rooms are, on the average, undoubtedly less
expensive than those in town. Each individual consults
his own taste and purse in the fitting up of his apart-
ments, some being very plainly, others luxuriously fur-
nished. The amount spent by a pair of chums in this
way varies from $200 to four or, in rare cases, even five
times that amount. As alrcadv remarked, none but

292 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

poor Freshmen room in college, and the Sophomores
rarely lay out much upon their college rooms ; so that
it is only during the last two years that the rich men
much affect the dormitories and exert themselves to
make them attractive and comfortable. Much new fur-
niture is every year brought into the buildings, but
much remains there, year after year. A Senior seldom
carries much away with him, on his departure, but sells
his goods to under-class men, or his washerwoman and
her " friends," or, as a last resort, to the second-hand
dealers. For the latter half of the third, term, the trees
in the yard are white with notices of furniture sales at
this or that Senior's room ; in the manufacture of which
notices all the artistic, literary and humorous talent of
each individual owner is made use of. Every notice
attempts in some way to be better than every other, and
the result is sometimes quite amusing. " Furniture for
sale," is also the legend displayed from many a Senior's
window, and perhaps left dangling there, long after Pre-
sentation Day, when everything has been " sold " and the
owner has disappeared forever.

As the real expense of the furniture is the difference
between the buying and selling price, it may happen that
a very well furnished room may in the end cost little
more than one fitted up ni much inferior style. Chums
in college almost always occupy separate beds and bed-
rooms ; in town, they as invariably sleep together.
Each room is heated by a separate stove, and coal is the
fuel employed. This is supplied by the college authori-
ties at cost prices. A student, whether rooming in
college or town, orders at the treasurer's office a quarter
or half ton or more of coal, paying for it at the time of
ordering, and it is shortly afterwards delivered at his
room. The price varies somewhat with the number of
flights of stairs up which it has to be carried. No coal

THE STUDENT LIFE. 293

carts, save those belonging to the college, are allowed
to enter the college yard ; and fuel purchased of the
dealers has to be carried by hand from the nearest gate-
way. There is usually little reason for witholding pat-
ronage from the college coal-yard, but when for any
cause an inhabitant of college chooses to buy his fuel
elsewhere, it seems poor policy to hinder him by any
such petty inconvenience. Open grates, though in the
minority, are not uncommon ; and large Franklin stoves,
v/ith open wood-fires, are sometimes discovered in the
rooms of the luxurious. Each man must build his own
fires, trim his own lamps, and draw his own water at
the college pump, or hydrant, or cistern, or basement
sink. A large, jug-like pitcher of stone was long used
for the latter purpose, though the ordinary tin water-pail
is gradually superseding it. 7Mie are no stoves in the
new Farnam College, which is heated by steam, and
lighted by gas, and supplied with water sinks and fiiucets
on every floor.

To each college is allotted a negro " sweep," who
must make the beds, all'eep the rooms once a week, and
keep them in order generally. He of course has a key
to every room in the college to which he is assigned.
As too much is expected of these sweeps their work is
not very thoroughly done, and many are in the habit of
presenting them with a quarter or half-dollar a week as
a means of securing special attention to themselves.
This is of course demoralizing, and leads to the special
neglect of those who offer no fees. Another plan is the
employment of a " private sweep," that is, a negro who,
besides making the beds and doing the ordinary cham-
ber work, builds the fires, draws the water, blacks boots,
buys the oil, fills and trims the lamps, and runs on mis-
cellaneous errands. For these services he receives a
salary of something like a dollar a week. Lodgers in

I

294 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

town, in rare instances, are also able to boast of employ-
ing private sweeps. Since '69's time, the faculty have
forbidden the occupants of college rooms either to fee
the regular sweeps or to employ private ones, but of
course the former prohibition is evaded.

In a student's room, beside some one of the innumer-
able varieties of the inevitable, book-case, lounge, table,
and easy-chair, will often be found a melodeon or piano-
forte. The walls are adorned with all kinds of pictures,
society posters, and knick knackery of every sort. Hats
stolen from Freshnuen by Sophomores, or from Sopho-
mores by Freshmen, in some historic rush ; Annual
caps ; bangers and other canes ; oars, swords and box-
ing gloves ; ball clubs and badges ; flags and streamers ;
masks with tin horns, pipes or cigars in their mouths ;
policemen's caps and " billies" (rare) ; signs from the
street lamps or from traders' windows ; gilt eagles, mor-
tars, watches, and other mercantile symbols ; figures cut
from theatrical show-bills ; names of college, class, open
societies and boat clubs ; wooden spoons, society mono-
grams and groups of society pinifc anything and every-
thing in the way of a memento of past experience,
whether gained by gift, purchase or theft ; all are dis-
played here. Pipes, tobacco and cigars, playing cards,
bottles, glasses and decanters, lie in sight amid the
books and papers, or readily at hand in drawer or
closet. And branded on the inner side of closet doors
are the names and initials of former occupants ; or reg-
ular manuscript lists of them carefully compiled from
old catalogues by some antiquarian, and running back
for nearly a century.

Many are the uninvited and usually unwelcome guests
who knock at the college doors. First, there is "Candy
Sam," the blind negro who for the past dozen years has
" helped hold up the Athenaeum tower," and exhorted

THE STUDENT LIFE. 295

the Freshmen to patronize the only legitimate candy
seller recognized by the institution. Each day he finds
his way to every college room, with his apples and con-
fectionery, and soon learns to recognize by their voices,
his individual patrons. The Freshmen usually take up
a collection for him at Thanksgiving time, and the other
classes " remember" him before the opening of the long
vacation. He gets all his clothes from college men, and
is never tired of sounding the praises of the good fel-
lows in past classes who liberally patronized him.
" Sam" is good natured, garrulous, and often amusing.
His true name, which he rarely mentions, is Theodore
Ferris. Aside from the intermittent " Trade Wind,"
whose energies are mostly confined to the hawking of
" fresh vanilla 'n' lemonice," " Sam" 's chief rival is a
crafty black man called "Hannibal," whose entrance
into the room is always accompanied by some such form-
ula as, "Not wishing to interrupt the gentlemen in their
studies I called to see if either of the gentlemen would
like to invest in purchasing from me a package of my
nice superior old-fashioned home-made molasses candy."
This rigmarole, like all the rest of "Hannibal's"
speeches, is delivered with the greatest appearance of
gravity, and without pause of any sort save that supplied
by the peculiar intonation. Then there is the Jew,
ready in all seasons and weathers with his inevitable
greeting, " Fine day ! any old clothes for me to-day, my
dears ?" There is " Old Matches," the tireless. There
is " Ajax," and the " Father of Ajax." There is Daniel
Pratt, Jr., impecunious but undaunted. There are the
street Arabs, ready to " clean a spittoon" or " wash their
faces in the mud" for five cents ; the little girls who
want a penny wherewith to purchase crackers for a sick
mother, or to buy a new dress ; the widow of large fam-
ily whose husband was killed in the war ; the beggars of

I

296 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

all sorts and sizes ; the pedlers of subscription books, of
pictures, of patent medicines and patent blacking-boxes
and patent lamp-shades ; the owners of every possible
device likely to attract a student's money. All these
range through the college buildingS; without let or hin-
drance, following one another in endless succession, day
after day.

Of course doors are often locked against them, but
this is inconvenient, and likely, besides, to keep out
more acceptable visitors. The small fry seldom venture
above the first floor of the building, unless specially
ordered, having a wholesome fear of the upstair rooms,
induced by the tricks often practised upon those of their
number who have been caught there. A wandering
organ-grinder or harpist is sometimes hired, by the men
who are to recite there, to play under the window of a
recitation room, thus calling down upon himself the re-
buke of the tutor, who sternly orders him from the yard.
Another trick is for a student to personate a college
official, in warning away these and similar stragglers,
with many admonitions of mock solemnity.

Two tutors or professors are allotted to each dor-
mitory, and occupy separate rooms. These, with a
single exception, are all on the second floor front. In
South and South Middle they are the two corner rooms ;
in North Middle and North the two middle rooms. In
the latter college the two corner rooms of the second
floor front are also occupied at certain hours of the day
by professors who reside in town ; and the third floor
front corner room of the south entry of that college is
the exception referred to, being occupied by a tutor or
professor. These resident officials never act as spies,
and seldom interfere in any way with the inhabitants of
the entries, with whom, it usually happens, they are not
personally acquainted. If an unusual uproar and dis-

THE STUDENT LlEE. 297

turbance, late at night, proceeds from a room in a
tutor's vicinity, he calls there and requests that less
noise be made ; and if the racket is unabated, perhaps
after a second warning, he reports the case at the next
meeting of the faculty. So, too, if a party ofcarousers
insist upon smashing one another's windows, crockery,
and furniture, or rolling dumb-bells and coal-scuttles
down the stairs, or firing off cannon-crackers in the
entries, the tutor is obliged to take 'cognizance thereof,
and report to his superiors. So long, however, as a man
behaves himself with tolerably decency, and doesn't
greatly disturb his neighbors, he is free from all inter-
ference, and can do what he likes in his own room. It
is this peculiar independence, afforded by no other
mode of living, that gives the life in dormitories its
greatest charm. A man dwelling there can come and
go whenever he will, at any hour of the day or night,
and no one need be any the wiser. By himself, or with
a jolly company of invited comrades, he can "sport
his oak," and while away a pleasant evening, in for-
ge.tfulness of the outside world. No irate landlady up-
braids him for his late hours, or his want of neatness,
or his destructive proclivities. He is his own master.
His room is his castle. And if he can't " wallop his
own nigger," he can at least swear at his private sweep.
The man who fails to room for at least a single year in
the dormitories, loses one of the most distinctive expe-
riences of college life. So well is this truth recognized,
that, spite of all the inconveniences of the present
"shells," "brick barracks," "factories," — as, with too
good reason,, the old colleges are often called, — they
are always crowded, and are then unable to accommodate
a large portion of the applicants. It is, therefore, likely,
that in the good time which all Yale men hope is
coming, when the college yard shall be surrounded by

29^ FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

commodious and elegant edifices like the new stone
dormitory, that all the undergraduates will be only too
happy to improve the opportunity of living together
within the walls. Many items in the foregoing descrip-
tion will of course have no application to the denizens
of the new Farnam College, who are obliged to conduct
themselves more discreetly, in return for receiving its
luxuries, and who are chaffed at as " aristocrats," " na-
bobs," and so on, by those who prefer to put up with the
inconveniences of the old buildings, rather than submit
to the prim regulations of the new.

" Sitting on the fence " is a privilege thaj; no Fresh-
man may enjoy ; at least until Presentation Day, when
by courtesy he becomes a Sophomore. Each of the
three upper classes lays claim to a particular portion of
the fence as a roosting place. The Seniors affect the
neighborhood of the South College gateways, occupying
the space between and a length or two each side of the
same. The Juniors take up the rest of the Chapel
street front, toward the east ; and the Sophomores ex-
tend on College street, from the corner of Chapel to the
Athenaeum gateway. Here, on pleasant days, for an
hour or two after dinner and supper, crowds of under-
graduates perch themselves, and smoke, chat, laugh and
sing together. The Sophomores naturally improve the
opportunity thus afforded to howl and shriek at the
Freshmen who may be obliged to pass near them,
under pretext of doing away with this, and silencing
the complaints of the townspeople against the blocking
up of the sidewalks, the faculty decreed, in the autumn
of ''dd^ when the class of '69 w^ere Sophomores, that
there should be no more sitting upon the fence, or
gathering of groups in its vicinity, under penalty of five
marks for each offender. The rule was exceedingly
unpopular j and it could not l^e enforced. Crowds

THE STUDENT LIFE. 299

perched upon the fence as usual, scattered on the ap-
proach of an official, and then came back to their roost
again. The fence was repeatedly torn up, hacked to
pieces, and set on fire, and the college carpenter's
repairs of the day were destroyed on the approach of
night, until watchmen had to be employed to protect
the fence from its relentless foes. Next spring, plank
benches were set up under the trees, in various parts of
the yard, and use was made of them by the students ;
but they were no substitute for the fence, which was as
attractive as ever, and as ever the most popular ren-
dezvous. Little by little, the faculty left off marking,
and at the end of the year they abandoned definitely the
attempt to enforce the obnoxious rule, — not however
thinking it necessary to make any public announcement
of their defeat. The benches were removed, a year and
a half after their erection.

The result of the conflict showed the inability of the
fiiculty to enforce an unfair rule which the common
sense of college unanimously condemned. Without
question, it is somewhat unpleasant for travelers afoot
to run the gauntlet of hundreds of students' eyes, and
they may at times suffer other annoyance because of the
assembled crowd ; but, after all, their inconvenience is
but trifling when compared with the solid, substantial
comfort which undergraduates take in sitting on the

Ience. There is nothing wicked or disreputable about
he practice, and as it is one of the most cherished re-
axations of every college man, its attempted abolish-
nent was impolitic and foolish. Each victim of the
iecree felt this prohibition of an innocent amusement
D be an unreasonable infringement of his personal
iberty, and spite of marks, warnings, and suspensions,
ill joined in asserting their rights and forcing the faculty
rom an untenable position. It may be doubted if any

300 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

large number of townspeople seriously object to the
practice, for it is not difficult for the timid to walk upon
the further side of the street when passing the colleges ;
and, for a good natured man, the sight of a fence full
of merry faces must be a pleasant one. To sit there of
a pleasant afternoon, watching the passing pedestrians ;
listening to the tirades of the " great American traveler,"
or the music of an itinerant harpist, or banjo-player, or
organ-grinder ; applauding the songs and stories of
" Crazy Charley," or some other strolling vagabond ;
pitching pennies into the mud, for the encouragement
of impromptu prize-fights among the street ragamuffins ;
chaffing with Candy Sam or Hannibal ; " listlessly
loafing the hours away ; " seems, to many a one, happi-
ness supreme.

Singing, too, is never entered into or enjoyed so
heartily as when sitting on the fence -, the subtle fascina-
tion of that locality — seeming to accord well with the
spirit of melody. One of the pleasantest recollections
of a graduate is the memory of moonlight evenings
under the elms, ei^livened by the inspiring sounds of
grand old college tunes. While " on the fence," each
class sings by itself, though two crowds sometimes
alternate with each other. The musical talent varies in
different classes, but usually the Seniors do the most
outdoor singing, the Juniors a little less, and the Soph-
omores least ; while the Freshmen, having no place on
tlie fence, cannot be said to sing at all. Often a
party will sing for an hour or more, — changing
from grave to gay, from lively to severe — while the win-
dows and balconies of the New Haven Hotel testify
their appreciation of the music. The collection of Yale
songs published in 1867 numbered about ipo, assigned
to half that number of distinct airs. Many of them of
course are in vogue elsewhere, but a great majority

I

THE STUDENT LIFE. 301

undoubtedly originated at the institution or were first
adopted by it as distinctively college songs. In the col-
lection of American college songs, published a year later
by a member of Hamilton College, Yale is assigned 38
pages out of the 245, or 14 more than Harvard, which
has the next largest number, and about four times as
many as the average of the 21 colleges represented.
Certain it is that at no other institution is this sort of
music so extensively indulged in. Of late years, with
the dying out of certain old customs whose celebration
demanded original songs, fewer such melodies have
been produced than formerly, yet about every class
leaves behind it two or three new ones — in possession
of a society or the general college public — with vitality
enough to keep them for a long time afloat. What the
popularity of a college song depends upon it would be
hard to say. The operatic choruses and — the negro
minstrels supply many new ones, which are held in high
favor for a short time and then for the most part are
forgotten. A few, however, manage to outlive the
ephemeral popularity of the others, and finally become
incorporated with the regular songs of the college.
Next to a really meritorious piece, one which is out-
rageously absurd seems to stand the best chance of
adoption ; and it is very desirable, if not indispensable,
for a tune that would find favor in college, that it should
not be often heard outside it, especially upon the street.
Yale men, except professional singers, rarely know more
than the first verse or two of any one song, so that, if
given to the end, all but the chorus becomes a solo.
Usually, instead of this, the tune is changed and a new
song started, and so on till the crowd's collection of
" first verses " has been exhausted. Even so old a
melody as " Lauriger " is seldom rendered entire, and
proba]?ly not one man in a dozen could give the last
verse correctly without previous cramming.

302 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

This custom of singing is a comparatively modern
one, and the secret societies have the credit of intro-
ducing it, — several of the college melodies having been
originally their own private property. The first collec-
tion of Yale songs was issued in 1853, — N. W. T. Root
of '52 and J. K. Lombard of '54 being the editors, —
and comprised an octavo pamphlet of 56 pages. A sec-
ond edition, of the same number of pages, was put forth
by the same editors in 1855. Three years later, Edward
C. Porter of '58 edited the third edition, enlarged to 72
pages, and again in i860 the fourth, of 88 pages. The
first edition was printed by L. M. Guernsey of Spring-
field, and published by E. Richardson ; of the others,
J. H. Benham was the printer and T. H. Pease the pub-
lisher. The next collection of Yale songs was " Car-
mina Yalensia," — large 8vo, muslin cover, 88 pages, —
issued in 1867 by Taintor Brothers of New York, F. V.
Garretson of '66 being the compiler. The collection
now current is "Songs of Yale," i2mo, 126 pages,
compiled by C. S. Elliot of '67, and published by C. C.
Chatfield & Co. in 1870. Few of the songs now sung,
and few indeed of those in the earliest collection were
written much before 1850. " Gaudeamus " and " Inte-
ger Vitae" were introduced in 1848, by Richard S. Wil-
lis of '41, who brought them from the German universi-
ties. " Lauriger " was similarly derived, and more
recently "Abschied," "Edite" and "Lathery." "Ben-
ny Havens " was first brought from West Point by the
Cochleaureati of '54. " It's a way we have at Old Yale,
Sir," is an original Yale song which has been adapted to
almost every college in the country. The air — " We
won't go home till morning " — to which it is sung is an
old one, which, like many others once popular with the
general public, is now rarely heard outside of college
walls. It is a curious fact that manv of those now

THE STUDENT LIFE. ^OT,

recognized as distinctively college tunes, were formerly
public property, which, after enjoying for a brief season,
the outside world abandoned and forgot.

" Glee clubs " are often organized, sometimes as class,
sometimes as college affairs. A club of the latter sort
is quite certain to give public exhibitions, " for the en-
tertainment of the audience and the emolument of the
members ; " and a class club may do the same, or it
may practise for its own amusement simply. The two
may exist at the same time and be in part made up of
the same individuals. A class glee-club is never organ-
ized before sophomore year ; neither is a Freshman, un-
less a remarkably good singer, admitted to one of the
other sort. The most famous of strictly class glee-
clubs was that of '63 ; but the present club, which is
mostly made up of '71 men, is said to be the best ever
organized, has given several very successful concerts,
and proposes to devote a month of the next vacation to
an extended tour on land and water, — singing in public
often enough to pay for the expenses of the trip. Like
most clubs of the sort, it comprises about a dozen
members. Of more formal character is the aged in-
stitution known as the " Beethoven Society," which was
originated in 18 12, by some members of the class which
graduated the following year, among whom w^as Profes-
sor Olmsted, the second president of the society. It
always formed the college choir until 1855, when, on
account of some difference with the faculty, it ceased to
perform that office, and its place was supplied by a
rival organization of still greater antiquity called
" Cecilia." At the eryd of two years this society became
absorbed in Beethoven, and the latter again controlled
the choir until about i860, when the present arrange-
ment, elsewhere described, was effected. It naturally
happens, however, that nearly all the members of the

304 FOUR VEARS AT YALE,

choir are still claimed by the society. When the name
" Beethoven " came to be applied to what was at first
known only as " the singing club " is uncertain, but by
the time it was 25 years old, its ordinary number of
members was about 30, — two thirds of whom were sing-
ers, and the rest composed the "grand orchestra."

" We had every unique instrument from the piccolo
fife to the big drum. Of course our music in its grand
ensemble of voices and instruments was often what might
be termed rousing: — and whenever we put forth our
musical energies we kept the attention of our auditors
from the beginning to the end. The instrument greatly
predominating in our orchestra was the flute. ' The
inevitable flute ' had, indeed, ever to be repressed and
discouraged. Every second fellow who wanted to join
the choir played a flute. We grew, indeed, to be relent-
less on the flute question. Having secured several of
the most accomplished upon that pastoral instrument,
we turned our backs resolutely upon all other piping
shepherds. Strange to say, however, the instrument
best played of all was the violin. We actually had
violin playing rather than that fiddling naturally (of stu-
dents) to be expected. We were also supplied with the
viola, 'cello and double-bass, so that the quartette of
the ' strings ' was complete. Of the ' brasses ' we
had but a single representative, — a big ophicleide. It
was our great gun, that ophicleide. We based a good
deal of our musical reputation upon the fundamental
notes of that deep-mouthed orator. We had now and
then a guitar, a triangle, a piccolo flute^ etc. Such in-
struments as were tiot heard, by,reason of the general
din — like the tinkling guitar — were supposed to be
heard. They looked pretty when the fellows played
them — and a great many serenaded misses in town
could testify that (when heard at all) they also sounded
pretty.

THE STUDENT LIFE. 305

"Up to 184T, each graduating class had gone to the
no inconsiderable expense of hiring a New York orches-
tra to play at Center Church during the Commencement
exercises, as is still the practice. But that year we de-
termined to save all expense and do the melodious
thing ourselves. Nor this alone. We resolved to at-
tempt the as yet unheard-of enterprise, and give a con-
cert on the evening preceding Commencement. It was
held in a church on Church street, the pulpit being
removed for the occasion and a staging constructed.
The number of tickets issued was unlimited, and — un-
fortunately for the accommodations of the church — the
sale was unlimited : so that when the evening of per-
formance arrived, one-third of the audience had to listen
from the street, we putting up the windows, and the
audience complacently submitting to such unprece-
dented concert-arrangements. Between the parts of the
programme an address on Music was delivered by the
president [R. S. Willis^ whose words are being quoted],
he feeling safe from any expressions of disapproval,
from the fact that precautions had wisely been taken,
early in the evening, to request the audience to refrain
from any tokens of satisfaction or dissatisfaction — if for
no other reason, out of regard for the character of the
place."

Since then, the character of Beethoven has materially
changed. The orchestra was long ago abandoned, and
the " big ophicleide" and other instruments are things of
memory only, though perhaps instrumental clubs like
" Tyrolea," and the " Yale String Band/' and " Yale
Tooters," in turn inherited them. There was also a
" Musical Band'' organized as early as 1827, which
raised money enough to make extensive purchases, but
which came to an early end. Its instruments v/ere be-
queathed to the president of the college, who afterwards

30<^ FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

on special occasions used to loan the band's big bass
drum to the students. There are periods of suspended
animation in the Beethoven society's existence, followed
by vigorous revivals and displays of unwonted vitality.
When in good working trim, it aims to give two or three
concerts a year in New Haven, and, with the faculty's
permission, as many more at such places as New York,
Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hartford, Providence, and even
Boston. On these occasions the best singers among the
late graduates, who are members of the professional
schools or otherwise residents, usually lend their assist-
ance. One of them is sometimes chosen leader of the
society, and employed on a salary as a director of the
rehearsals. Otherwise, if necessary, a professional is
elected to the position. Regular weekly rehearsals are
held on Wednesday evenings and are an hour in length ;
while in preparation for a concert the practice meetings
are of course more frequent and prolonged. Posters on
the trees request the attendance of members. Calliope
hall is sometimes used as a place of meeting ; or an
apartment in town is rented for the purpose. While '69
was in college, the membership varied from 40 to 70, —
50 being the average. The Seniors usually outnumber
the others, though the last published list exhibits : Sen-
iors 20, Juniors 20, Sophomores 9 and Scientifics 8. In
the old times, there doubtless was fierce rivalry between
Cecilia and Beethoven in electioneering for new mem-
bers, and " likely" Freshmen were called upon and made
to display their vocal abilities, by partisans of the two
clubs on the look-out for the best singers among the new
comers. Now-a-days, an under-class man is elected on
the recommendation of those who know him to be a
" good singer," and any Senior, possessed of sufficient
musical sense to keep time to an ordinary chorus, finds
no difficulty in becoming a " Beethovenite." There is

THE STUDENT LIFE. 307

therefore no particular " honor" about an election to, or
an " office" in, the society, and consequently there is
little wrangling on those points. The " constitution,"
"archives," and " properties," are not very extensive or
valuable.

Students are dragged to Beethoven rehearsals, as to
all others, with great difficulty. Even with a concert in
preparation, attendance is by no means general. Only
a small portion of the members take the prominent
parts in the concerts, — the remaining voices being used
to help on the choruses, — and the complaints of partial-
ity and injustice, so common among musical people else-
v/here, are not always wanting. As every member of a
class or college glee club is almost certain to belong to
the society also, a "grand concert" is usually advertised
in the name of the " Beethoven Society and Yale Glee
Club." In such cases "the society" gets the credit for
the elaborate, " scientific" pieces, and " the club" for the
hearty college songs, which the audience most expect
and relish. The profits of the concerts are not usually
large, for the cost of transporting so large a company is
considerable, and the money made by a successful show
may be offset by that lost in an unlucky one. Students
are not distinguished as shrewd business managers.
Still, enough is usually made to pay the running ex-
penses of the society without a resort to taxation ; and
a respectable surplus is often left to present to the Yale
Navy, or some similar needy "institution."

The number of Sophomores in any class who amuse
themselves by abusing the Freshmen, in the ways de-
scribed in the last chapter, is not very large. A dozen
ringleaders, and as many more who occasionally lend
their presence to such proceedings would probable in-
clude them all. The rest of the class, with self-respect
enough not to favor such things themselves, are yet indif-

30« FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ferent as regards the others, or at best but passively hos-
til^e to them. It is a rare thing for a Sophomore of
influence to utter a bold protest against the excesses of
his classmates. The common remark that " a few bullies
and cowards in every sophomore class are able to dis-
grace it and the college, in spite of an all but unanimous
sentiment againt them," is not true, as a matter of fact.
The number of evil doers, as stated at the opening of
the paragraph, is certainly few, but there is no strong
public sentiment against them. They do not lose their
social standing and importance. They are still accounted
good fellows. They are chosen to the highest offices
and receive elections to the best societies. Class and
college look upon their sins as venial ones, and, while
disapproving of the same, do not inflict any sort of pun-
ishment on account thereof

In the classes of '66 and '67 the Sophomores who
specially engaged in the duty of " disciplining" the
Freshmen called themselves the " Court of Areopagus,"
and published under that title in the Batmer the names
of two " judices," three " accusatores," four " lictors" and
four " carnifices." Each name was formed by an odd-
looking combination of letters, like " Nchokotsa,"
" Mochoasele," " Kantankruss," or " Phreshietaugh," fol-
lowed by the small Greek letters corresponding to the
initials of each man's real name. The whole was printed
in heavy black type and surmounted by mourning rules,
to make more plausible the included motto, " Nos time-
unt Freshmanes." In the " Bingo" song, then as now
shouted at the Fresh, " A-re-op-a-gus ! Freshmen stand
in fear of us," supplied the place of " Here's to good old
Yale, She's so hearty and so hale." The two classes
who successively supported the " court" also published
" personal" lists in regard to the peculiarities of their
own " fellows." The long, short, fat, thin, big, little,

1

THE STUDENT LIFE. 309

hard, soft, odd, good, gay, and strong, " fellows" of the
Sophomores, each had their initials indicated by the
small Greek letters. This is mentioned because of its
exceptional character, for the practice, though common
at other colleges, is rarely indulged in at Yale. It
should not be inferred that " Areopagus" was peculiar
to the classes mentioned. It had existed for ten or a
dozen years before their time, as a sort of freshman bug-
bear, but it had not previously published the fact of its
existence so boldly. The Easthampton boys are said to
have introduced it as an institution of similar name
and object had long been kept up at their academy.
Everything about it was shrouded in mystery, and its
very indefiniteness added terror to its name among the
Freshmen. When one of them was hazed, " the Areo-
pagus" was believed to be at the bottom of it, even
though the victim was punished without a formal trial
and sentence under the peculiar and awe-inspiring forms
belonging to that august tribunal. Since its disappear-
ance from the Banner the name has become obsolete.
"Turdetani" w-as the title of a somewhat similar affair
devised by the Sophs of '63.

Sophomores and also Juniors occasionally form make-
believe " societies " among themselves, possessed of
certain letters or symbols, whose signification is usually
a joke or " sell " of some kind. A thing of the sort in
'68 became well known on account of the popularity of
a jingling chorus, originated by it, which was mostly
made up of a repetition of the name, " Nu Tau Phi."
When the '68 men came to be Juniors, they thought a
transfer of the joke to a half-dozen Sophomores might
be productive of cigars and potables, and accordingly
announced that those expecting elections to the "society"
should be in their rooms on a certain night. At the
appointed time, several roguish Sophs thought fit to

3IO FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

impose on their classmates who had made any prepara-
tions for " election," by pretending to be Juniors, offer-
ing the elections to " Nu Tau Phi," and helping them-
selves to their wine and cigars. The fraud was carried
out successfully in two or three cases. In others, the
chief actors of the joke were discovered in the midst of
it. When the real Juniors finally appeared, they brought,
as " election cards," large pasteboards on which were
scrawled the names of the "elected." That was the
end of " Nu Tau Phi," but the success of these spurious
elections to this mock "society," suggested to the
Sophomores the idea of playing a similar game upon
ambitious Freshmen. Accordingly a number of them
devised the " Omega Lambda Chi," — adapting the latter
part of the title to the "nu-tau-phi chorus." On an
appointed evening Freshmen were visited by individual
Sophomores, pledged to secrecy, and then electioneered
for a mysterious society whose name was not divulged.
If they consented to join it, they were to be prepared to
receive their elections at midnight. As many of these
visitors belonged to the regular sophomore societies,
which at that time had agreed to give no pledges, the
Freshmen connected the offer with a secret attempt to
get around this agreement, and readily swallowed the bait.
So "Lambda Chi" gave out its elections, and was well
" treated " by the humbugged Freshmen who " accepted
the honor." They in turn were thus inspired to practice
a somewhat similar trick upon one of their own num-
ber, who, having entered the class late in the year, had
by foolish actions rendered himself obnoxious to them.
As the time for giving out the regular sophomore society
elections approached, he was accordingly waited upon
by some classmates, who played the part of Sophomores,
and offered him an election to " Phi Beta Chi," or some
similar variation of the real name of a sophomore

THE STUDENT LIFE. 3 1 1

society. Accepting this "with pleasure," he was blind-
folded, taken to a hall in town and tossed in a blanket,
make to speak a piece, answer a series of nonsensical
questions, and so on, and finally given the "grip " in-
vented for the occasion, and left standing in the street
near his lodging-house, under a pledge not to open his
eyes until his attendants had made good their escape.
So. pleased with his ''election" was the victim of this
transparent humbug, that he firmly believed in the fraud
up to the night when the real elections were actually
conferred upon his classmates. The Freshmen, too,
kept their secret well, and the trick was known to but
few save the participants. Their dupe shortly afterwards
bade adieu to the class and college. As for " Lambda
Chi," the name at least is still current in college, and
perhaps the sell connected with it has become tra-
ditional.

The faculty of course attempt to shield the Freshmen
from abuse and imposition at the hands of the Sopho-
mores, but in the nature of things their control over
such matters is small. Their most effective means of
action is in the nature of a bargain or compromise.
Suppose that several Freshmen are caught in a rush
and suspended indefinitely, or even dropped from the
class altogether. Their classmates sign a petition to the
authorities, i^raying that the verdict be reversed, and
promising, if their classmates be restored, to take part
in no more rushes, and in sophomore year to refrain
from all interference with their inferiors. The Fresh-
men of '68 took a pledge of this sort, in behalf of some
Sophomores who had hazed one of their number, but
afterwards broke it; and there are doubtless similar
cases of bad faith on record. The Sophomores of '72,
however, preserved in all its strictness a pledge of non-
interference, and scrupulously refrained from the least

312 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

abuse of the Freshmen, who, in turn, though bound by
no pledge, gave but little trouble to their successors ;
and perhaps it is possible that a better state of things
is henceforth to prevail. It was suggestive to notice,
during the period of unexampled harmony between '72
and '73, the frequency of the newspaper item, '^ Hazing
has been revived at Yale College."

The Sophs of '69 have the discredit of introducing the
practice of burning the college " coal-yard " ; or at all
events the trick, which seems to be almost becoming a
"custom," had not been known of for several years
before their time, if ever. It was on the night of No-
vember 13-14, 1866, that the first conflagration
happened. At that time, an extraordinary meteoric
display was looked for by the scientific men of the
country, and the college professors specially interested
in the matter made considerable preparations for taking
accurate observations of the expected shower, from the
top of the south tower of Alumni Hall. It was arranged
to have several relays of Sophomores and Juniors join
them there in watching out the night and counting the
meteors as they fell. All college was excited upon the
subject of the heavenly pyrotechnics, and kept wide
awake till midnight, awaiting them: then in disgust
went to bed, content to rely upon the fire alarm which
was to arouse all the city in case the expected display
really appeared. At about two o'clock in the morning
the alarm did ring, rousing out the citizens to behold —
not a meteoric shower, but a conflagration in the college
yard, whereof the north coal-yard furnished the material,
sending forth a sheet of flame which brought into bold
relief the figures of the star gazers perched upon the
top of the tower. This was a practical joke which,
though exasperating to many, yet from the peculiar cir-
cumstances of the case, had some reason for being ; but

THE STUDENT LIFE. 3 1 3

the later attempts of the same sort have been without
anything to recommend them. The south yard was
made a bonfire of in celebration of Grant's election to
the presidency, and was then rebuilt of brick. A year
later the north was again fired, and it was burnt for the
third time at the opening of the summer term of 1870,
on which occasion tutors' windows were smashed, the
Bible was removed from the chapel, the handle was
broken from the college organ, and the chapel cushions
of the college officers were thrown into the fire. The
outrage thoroughly exasperated all college, and when a
few days later the faculty detected the three drunken
Sophomores who were guilty of perpetrating it, and
promptly expelled them, every one joined in approving
the verdict. The yard was fired for the fourth time, in
the midst of a driving rain storm, on the night before last
Thanksgiving day, supposably to signify dissatisfaction
at the omission of the Jubilee. As the coal-yard proper
is quite a large structure, the exertions of the fire de-
partment have thus far prevented the destruction of
more than one side or corner of it, though their engine
hose has sometimes been cut and disabled by the incen-
diaries or their abettors, by whom also the peelers have
been yelled at and insulted. The cost of rebuilding is
assessed in the shape of " extra damages " upon the
students' term bills ; and so, in money as well as repu-
tation, all college suffers from the vandalism of a few
cowardly sneaks.

Though the organization of a base-ball club is one of
the first things accomplished by Freshmen, yet it is
usually in sophomore year that a class nine attains its
greatest efficiency. After that, its best men are drawn
into the University club, and though the separate organ-
ization may be kept up for the first part of junior year,
it is almost certain to be abandoned before the fourth
15

314 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

year opens. The game first assumed its present impor-
tance as a leading sport of college at about the time
when '69 entered the institution, in the autumn of 1865,
— though clubs had at times figured in the Banner for
a half-dozen years preceding. In the University nine,
then for the first time organized, there were three Fresh-
men. The class club, at the close of freshman year,
beat the corresponding club of Harvard, 7,6 to 2,Z ] ^"d
again, a year later, 23 to 22. It then became absorbed
in the University nine, which for the three following
years suffered defeat at the hands of Harvard : July
25, 1868,-17 to 25 ; July 5, 1869,-24 to 41 ; July 4,
1870, — 22 to 24. There have been four other matches
between as many successive freshman classes in the two
colleges: '70's, in 1867, — 38 to 18; 71's, in 1868,— 18
to 36; 72's, in 1869, — 28 to 19 ; and '73's, in 1870, —
21 to 18. Yale, therefore, has won five out of the six
Class matches with Harvard, but has lost all three of the
University contests. In 1869, the University match
was played at Brooklyn, and the freshman match at
Providence ; in 1870, the corresponding localities were
New Haven and Springfield ; all previous games had
been played at Worcester during the week of the
regatta.

Up to the exit of '69, — which class was represented
in every game, — the University had played with and
defeated the University nines of Wesleyan, Columbia,
Princeton, and Williams ; and had engaged in 24 games
with 1 1 different non-collegiate clubs, in half of which
it was victorious, with a total score of 547 to 427.
From that time till the close of 1870, it played and was
defeated in two college matches, — by St. John's, June
I, — 19 to 13 ; by Princeton, July 6, — 26 to 15 ; was
victorious in four games played with two amateur clubs
of Connecticut, by a score of 136 to 56; and was

THE STUDENT LIFE, 315

defeated in all but one of six games played with five
professional clubs, by a score of 63 to 176, — the suc-
cessful game being that with the Lowells, June 17, — 14
to 8. The first two trials of 1871^ which are the only
ones that can be recorded here, were : with the Mutuals,
May 6, — 10 to 20; with the Eckfords, May 13, — 17 to
14. Two previous (1870) games with the former club
had resulted: 12 to 49 j 9 to 31 ; and one (1869) with
the latter : 8 to 24. The other professionals included
in the previous summary were : the Athletics, 12 to 29,
and the White Stockings, 8 to 35. Probably as large a
number of matches as those here recorded have been
played in the interval by the various class clubs, but the
only college contests of the sort, aside from those with
Harvard, were the 1867 games of the '69 Sophomores
against Princeton: May 4, — 52 to 58 ; June 27, — 40 to
3o(?); and the 1870 game of the '71 Juniors against the
University nine of Trinity : June i , — 26 to 19. Matches
between the different classes, or between Class and Uni-
versity, have also been quite common. At the opening
of the season of 1870 a member of the graduating class
offered for competition a champion flag, the first posses-
sion of which was decided in this wise : the Seniors
played with the Sophomores, the Juniors with the Fresh-
men, and the victors in these two trials — Juniors and
Sophomores — fought for the championship^ which was
won by the former, but afterwards taken by the latter
('72), by whom, spite of several contests, it has since
been retained. A single game decides the matter, and
the holders are constantly open to challenge, and, if
Seniors, must, upon graduation, surrender the flag to
the incoming senior class. Matches for the champion-
ship are rather discouraged by the captain of the Uni-
versity, as tending to impair the efficiency of his nine,
by absorbing a half holiday which had better be spent

1

3i6 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

ill a University match of some sort. Excepting the
trials with Harvard, the first '69 sophomore match with
Princeton, and the '71 junior match against the Univer-
sity nine of Trinity, all the college games have been
played at New Haven, as have also a great majority of
the others. It is expected, however, that during the
next long vacation the University nine will make
arrangements for an extended tour and trial of skill with
the best local clubs in various parts of the country.
The enthusiasm over base-ball was never as high at
Yale as now, and the nine is confessedly superior to
any other that has yet represented the college. In the
victory of May 17, its members were: four Juniors,
three Freshmen, one Senior, and one Sophomore.

The ball-ground, where all of the matches and most
of the practice games are played, is at Hamilton Park,
situated about two miles from the colleges, on the line
of the horse railway. When the reputation of the con-
testants will warrant it, an admission fee is charged ;
and the receipts obtained in this way are often consid-
erable, as an important " match game " is quite certain
to attract a good many spectators, both from town and
college. A professional club stipulates in advance for
a certain share of the gate money, as a half, or two
thirds ; otherwise it is kept by the Yale men to help
pay for the necessary expenses. These are, in one way
and another, considerable ; 'and when a class club is to
be fitted out with new uniforms and equipments for a
contest with Harvard, or is to entertain guests from
another college, it has to ask pecuniary aid from those
who are willing to support a class " institution " in which
they themselves have no personal interest. So, too, in
similar cases, subscription papers for the benefit of the
University club are circulated through all the classes, —
especially in those which have no separate clubs of their

THE STUDENT LIFE. 3 1 7

own to demand their assistance. Self-appointed Soph-
omores of '68 had a trick, early in the year, of collect-
ing subscriptions for this and other "causes" from ver-
dant Freshmen, and " going on a bum " with the money
thus extorted ; but they are believed to have been with-
out successors in their rascality.

Wednesday and Saturday afternoons are the times spe-
cially set apart for the sport by its votaries, and are the
only times when the faculty allow the playing of matches
with outside clubs, though class matches are for reason
sometimes played upon other days. An open lot within
a half mile of college is to some extent made to do duty
as a practice ground, though possessed of little save its
proximity to recommend it. " Muffins," or clubs which
make no pretence to good playing, are its chief patrons.
"Pass ball" was considerably practised in the gymnasium
yard, and to some extent on the college or city green,
where, in these latter cases, players were exposed to fine
by the college authorities, or arrest by the city police.
But recently, as the faculty have sanctioned the tossing
of ball within certain limits of the college yard, the
other places are deserted, and the practice in the yard
is constant. The faculty consent rather grudgingly to a
club's playing outside of New Haven, in term time, and
occasionally forbid it altogether, though recently they
have adopted the rule of allowing three such games
each term. Sometimes when they permit a game, for
which the arrangements have been made, they allow no
friends and backers to accompany the actual players on
the journey ; the time of the game is usually so fixed
that the absentees need lose but one or at the most two
recitations. But there are always stragglers, and those
who return promptly are not apt to " rush," when called
up the morning after a ball match.

The vanquished party in a ball match always yields

3i8 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

up its ball as a token of defeat ; and a Junior of '69,
who was an officer of the University ball club, collected
these emblems of victory that had been won from out-
siders by the college clubs, had them gilded and in-
scribed with the time and place of the match, the names
of the contesting clubs, and the score, and placed them in
an ornamental case, in which they were displayed for a
year or two, in Hoadley's window. But the custom was
not kept up, on account of its expensiveness, and the case
with its original contents has now been banished to the
room of the club president. Relations with an amateur
or professional club usually extend no further than the
game itself, and the same holds good of the annual con-
tests with Harvard, which are held on neutral ground
(though the University match of 1870 was necessarily
played at New Haven). But when another college club
is invited to Yale, or a Yale club is' invited to another
college, for a friendly trial of skill, there is usually an
expressed or implied understanding that the club shall
bring along its friends, and all take part in a general
jollification. Thus the Yale club, after beating the
Columbia men, treated them to a good supper, which
the latter reciprocated by instituting an elaborate ban-
quet on the occasion of the proposed " return match"
which the weather prevented from being played. The
'69 Sophomores were likewise most hospitably enter-
tained by the Princeton Sophs who defeated them, and
were loud in their promises of a complimentary return.
Yet for some unknown reason neither they, nor their
University club, when they came to New Haven, were
shown any special attention by the Yale men, and they
naturally felt aggrieved in consequence. Whatever the
cause of this cavalier treatment, it seems to have been
inexcusable, and it certainly was regretted. That it was
entirely exceptional is perhaps the best that can be said of

THE STUDENT LIFE. 3 1 9

the discourtesy. At these inter-collegiate suppers, perhaps
there is more wine disposed of than is absolutely neces-
sary, yet the rule is honest hilarity rather than drunken-
ness. Such gatherings, next to secret-society conven-
tions, furnish the chief medium through which under-
graduates of different colleges can become acquainted,
and, if kept free from excesses, are manifestly advanta-
geous to all concerned in them.

Nothing has thus far been described in this chapter
which could not with almost equal reason be included
in those which follow ; yet up to a recent period Sopho-
more Year was possessed of one distinctive custom, —
the ceremony known as the " Burial of Euclid." As
long ago as 1843 the custom was said to have been
" handed down from time immemorial" ; and with this
preface a writer of the period thus goes on to describe
it: "This book [Euclid], the terror of the dilatory and
unapt, having at length been completely mastered, the
class, as their acquaintance with the Greek mathema-
tician is about to close, assemble [by divisions ?] in their
respective places of meeting, and prepare (secretly for
fear of the foculty) for the anniversary. The necessary
committee having been appointed, and the regular prep-
arations ordered, a ceremony has sometimes taken place
like the following : The huge poker is heated in the old
stove and driven through the smoking volume, and the
division, marshalled in line, for once at least ' see
through' the v^rhole affair. They then ' understand' ^t,
as it is passed above their heads ; and they finally march
over it in solemn procession, and are enabled, as they
step firmly on its covers, to assert with truth that they
have ' gone over' it — poor jokes, indeed, but sufficient to
afford abundant laughter. And then follow speeches,
comical and pathetic, and shouting and merriment.
The night assigned having arrived, how carefully they

320 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

assemble, all silent, at the place appointed ! Laid on its
bier, covered with sable pall, and borne in solemn state,
the corpse (/. ^., the book) is carried with slow proces-
sion, with the moaning music of flutes and fifes, the
screaming of fiddles, and thumping and mumbling of a
cracked drum, to the opened grave or the funeral pyre.
A gleaming line of blazing torches and twinkling lan-
terns, moves along the quiet streets and through the open
fields, and the snow creaks hoarsely under the tread of
a hundred men. They reach the scene, and a circle
formed around the consecrated spot ; if the ceremony is
a burial, the defunct is laid all carefully in his grave,
and then his friends celebrate in prose or verse his
memory, his virtues, and his untimely end : and three
oboU are tossed into his tomb to satisfy the surly boat-
man of the Styx. Lingeringly is the last look taken of
the familiar countenance, as the procession passes slowly
around the tomb ; and a moaning is made — a sound of
groans going up to the seventh heaven — and the earth
is thrown in, and the headstone with epitaph placed
duly to hallow the grave of the dead. Or if, according
to the custom of his native land, the pyre, duly pre-
pared with combustibles, is make the center of the ring;
a ponderous jar of turpentine or whisky is the fragrant
incense, and as the lighted fire mounts up in the still
night, and the alarm sounds dim in the distance, the
eulogium is spoken, and the memory of the illustrious
d«ad honored ; the urn receives the sacred ashes, which,
borne in solemn procession, are placed on some conspic-
uous situation, or solemnly deposited in some fitting
sarcophagus. So the sport ends ; a song, a loud hurrah,
and the last jovial roysterer seek short and profound
slumber."

A member of the class of '38 writes that during hisj
college career the Burial "was talked of as a thing once

The s tudent life. 3 2 1

practised " ; though it is probable that the ceremonies
had been less elaborate than those which were in vogue
in 1843. When the study of Euclid was restricted to
freshman year, the ceremony was not abandoned, nor
the time of holding it changed. The preliminary meet-
ing in the division rooms, for the purpose of " under-
standing," "going over" and " seeing through" the book,
was naturally given up, but the custom was held on to
by the Sophomores, instead of being transferred to the
Freshmen and celebrated by them at the actual time of
finishing the study. It is possible that the Burial was
omitted by some classes, but it seems to have been ob-
served pretty regularly by most, for the Lit. speaks of it
in 1857 as "the annual disgrace," and a year later
Davenport's well-known lithographic sketch of the cer-
emony was published, accompanied by a description, —
[to be quoted from hereafter. The Masonic " Temple,"
on the corner of Court and Orange streets, was the place
where the opening rites used to be held, the crowd
marching thither from the rendezvous on the State
House steps. The building was also in those days often
used by collegians for other celebrations, — Freshman
Initiation, and the Wooden Spoon Exhibition, at times
being held there. The Burial took place about the mid-
dle of the first term, though the mention of snow in the
account already quoted would imply a later date as cus-
tomary in those earlier years. Many and perhaps all in
the two upper classes were made acquainted with the
password that would admit them to the exhibition, but
the few townsmen who managed to slip in were there by
sufferance rather than invitation. The town rabble of
course followed the procession from the hall to the fu-
neral pile, perhaps with a few upper-class men among
them, though most of these no doubt kept away from
the burning. The printed programmes, and the various

322 FOUR YEARS AT YALE.

original songs, poems, orations and speeches, aimed to
be witty, but, like those of the freshman Pow-wow, too
often succeeded in being simply vulgar and obscene.
Indecent jokes at the expense of unpopular tutors
and professors, as well as of Euclid himself, were all
too common, and these, combined with other excesses,
finally brought the custom to its downfall. In one class
only ('53), the oration, speeches, songs, and the rest,
were all published, in a covered pamphlet, of which —
fortunately for the credit of all concerned — but few
copies were printed. The account accompanying the
lithograph of 1858, already noted, says :

"Late on some dark October evening, mysterious
forms, under cover of fiendish masks and satanic habili-
ments, are seen pointing in silence and with solemn
tread toward the 'Temple.' Repeating the Homeric
password, they file up the winding staircase, guarded by
the gleaming swords of the ' force committee,' and enter
the hall, already echoing with the shouts and songs of
the assembled multitude. On the stage in front lies an
effigy ; and the likeness thereof is of an aged man ; and
the name thereof is Euclid. Around the effigy are
innumerable Sophomores, dancing and singing in solemn
measure :

" ' In the arms of death old Euclid sleepeth,

Sleepeth calmly now ;
And corruption's ghastly dampness creepeth

O'er his pallid brow.
His triangles, which so often floored us,

Soon shall find their grave ;
He'll try angling with the lines that bored us,

In the Stygian wave.

" His accounts all squared, he hath departed
From his earthly sphere ;
On a narrow bier his body ^s carted,
Not a la[r)ger bier.

THE STUDENT LIFE. 323

We've described the space of his existence,

In these given lines,
And we'll burn old Euclid in the distance,

'Neath the waving pines.'

. "The wild, grotesque hilarity of these midnight^ongs,
when once experienced, can never be forgotten. Oration,
poem, and funeral oration follow, interrupted with songs
and music from the band : * Old Grimes is dead,'
' Music from the Spheres,' and other choice and solemn
masterpieces. Then are torches lighted, and two-by-
tvvo the long train of torch bearers defile through the
silent midnight streets, to the swell of solemn music,
and passing by the dark cemetery of the real dead, bear
through ' Tutor's Lane ' the wrapt coffin of Father
Euclid. They climb the hill, and in the neighboring
field commit it to the flames of the funeral pyre, invok-
ing Pluto in Latin prayers, and chanting a final dirge ;
while the flare of torches, the wild grotesqueness of each
uncouthly-disguised wight, and the background of cold,
starlit sky, and dark encircling forest, makes the wild
merriment seem almost solemn."

In the lithograph, " the scene represented is the cere-
mony at the funeral pyre, when the flames are already
kindled, and the priest is dooming the shade of the
departed to the endless pains of the bottomless pit.
On the left is seen a band of jolly students — Euclid
haters— mounting the hill of science with the aid of
ponies and wings, all in a state of great hilarity, with
the exception of one, whose refractory steed gives a
downward tendency to his movements. On the right
are seen the infernals bearing away the body of Euclid
in triumph, and in the foreground a weeping crocodile
is represented as shedding significant tears. In the
left hand corner, the sad effects of overmuch study are
faithfully represented by the wan features and forlorn