History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 49

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 49

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Prayer was held at six in the morning. In 1731 a schedule of fines for absences, tardiness and misbe- havior at Chapel was adopted. Rebellions frequently broke out, but the regulations were enforced. After prayer there were recitations until breakfast, at half- past seven-a rule which caused some of the students to take their text-books to Chapel, and to study them clandestinely during the service. In 1773, it appearing that the custom was slighted of . repeating on the "Lord's Day evening" the heads of the sermons on the previous day, the Overseers proposed that one of the students should read aloud a discourse, which would not only foster piety, but also encourage "just and graceful elocution." Then declamations were made after evening prayers, as appears by an entry in the Diary of J. Q. Adams: "March 24, 1786. After prayer I declaimed, as it is termed ; twostudents every evening speak from memory any piece they choose, if it be approved by the President."

At the beginning of the year the first three mem- bers of the Sophomore Class read on successive Mon- days, after evening prayers, the so-called "Customs " to the Freshmen, who were required to listen with decency. J. Q. Adams, in his Diary for March 26, 1786, says : " After prayer, Bancroft, one of the So- phomore Class, read the Customs to the Freshmen one of whom (McNeal) stood with his hat on all the time. He, with three others, were immediately hoisted (as the term is) before a Tutor and punished. There was immediately after a class meeting of the Fresh- men, who, it is said, determined they would hoist any scholar of the other classes, who should be seen with his hat on in the Yard, when any of the Government are there."

Practical jokes were played upon the minister from an early period. In 1785 the College Bible was miss- ing, and also two Indian images which stood on the gate-posts of a Cambridge resident. All these were

found by a Tutor in a room of a student, who was reading the Bible in loud tones to the images. "What is the meaning of this noise?" asked the Tutor an- grily. "Propagating the gospel among the Indians, sir," was the student's calm reply. In winter the pulpit was lighted by candles, and sometimes mischiev- ous students bored holes in these, and filled them with powder, which, when the flame reached it, put out the lights. At another time, flat pieces of lead inserted in the candles, produced the same result. Many were the assaults made on the College bell, in the endeavor to prevent its ringing for prayers; once the monitor who marked absences was locked in his room, but he found out the culprits, and marked them only as ab- sent. When Ashur Ware, who hesitated in his speech, conducted the service, the students used to sneeze, making the sound A-a-shur, A-a-shur-ware. "Pull- crackers" being fastened to the lids of the Bible, they exploded when it was opened, whereupon President Kirkland reproved the students so earnestly, that many of the students went out saying, "That's right," "The President's right." Dr. Kirkland used to be summoned to prayers by the Regent's Freshman, who rang the bell morning and evening. Once, when Edward Everett was President, the gate which led from the enclosure of Wadsworth House was nailed up, so that he had to go round in order to reach the Chapel in University. He was so incensed, that he lectured the students, using as a text Dante's appeal to Florence, " What have you done to me ?" Everett's lack of humor, which prevented him from seeing the disproportion between the annoyance he had suffered and the treatment Dante received from the Floren- tines, was not lost on some of his hearers. Many efforts were made to secure more reverence at the services, but they often failed. And no wonder, when we remember that, besides the usual ceremony, it was the custom for each Divinity student, who was a benefi- ciary of the Hopkins Fund, to read four theological dissertations, each ten minutes long, after evening prayers. "In one year the undergraduates were re- quired to listen to thirty-two such dissertations, among which were an English essay on 'Ejaculatory Prayer,' and a Latin disquisition on 'The Hebrew Masoretic Points.'" Absences were announced in Latin every Saturday, and excuses were given in Latin. Common excuses were, "semel aegrotavi," " bis invalui," "detentus ab amicis," "Ex oppido," and "tintinnabulum non audivi." One Freshman, charged with three ab- sences, replied, "Non ter, sed semel abfui; Carolus frater locked me up in the Buttery." Once (April 18, 1821) only three students appeared at prayers, which were, nevertheless, conducted as usual : the rest of the Col- lege had gone the preceding evening to see Kean act. in Boston, and a heavy snow-storm had prevented their return.

President Quincy was absent from prayers only twice during the sixteen years of his administration, and then he was detained in court as a witness. He

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sat directly in front of the organ, on the west side of the University, opposite the minister ; and whenever, after the services, he had an address to make, he would read it from manuscript. Henry Ware, Sr., then conducted morning, and his son evening prayers. In 1831 a charge of sectarianism was raised against the form of services, but a member of the Corporation re- plied that the "objection is not that they contain sec- tarianism, but that they omit sectarianism." Statis- tics prepared in 1830 show that during the preceding year, absences, excused and unexcused, of the Senior Class averaged only two a week for each individual. Excuses were then granted by the President, but in 1844 President Quincy required that every minor must "bring a written excuse from his parent, guardian or physician. This brings him continually under do- mestic surveillance, and gives the Faculty of the Col- lege evidence of the reality of his excuse of the most unquestionable authenticity." From that time, there- fore, we may probably date the first flow of that stream of "doctor's certificates " and parental excuses, which flooded "the office" every Monday morning, until, by the abolition of compulsory attendance, the need of those documents ceased. Disturbances were usually greater at evening than in the morning, per- haps because the spirit of mischief was not wholly aroused in those who got out of bed, drew on boots and overcoat, and ran to Chapel at six o'clock A, M. That was the hour for prayers, except in winter, when they came at seven o'clock, No occasion was lost for shuffling or stamping with the feet, until at last the long seats were replaced by settees, so that the moni- tors could see who made the noise, The Bible was stolen in 1831 and in 1852, and again in 1863. In 1852 it was sent by express to the Librarian of Yale Col- lege, who had it returned to Harvard. On one of the fly-leaves the following inscription was found : Hoc Biblum raptem vi a pulpite Harvard Coll. Chapelli Facultati Yali ab Harv. Coll, undergradvatibus dona- tvr rewardom meriti et lenitatis in erpellando sopho- mores XXV for ct receptor idem in vestro librariunculo retinete : coveres servamus in vsum chessboardi pro Hel- ter Skelter Club.

During President Walker's term (1853-60) evening prayers were discontinued ; at the morning service a choir was introduced, and a "Service Book," pre- pared by Prof. Huntington, was used. The experi- ment of holding prayers after breakfast did not suc- ceed. The bell was still the object of many futile attacks ; once, indeed, some students succeeded in cutting out the tongue, but the Janitor, Mills, beat the strokes with a hammer. Attempts to plug the keyholes of the Chapel doors likewise failed; the alert watchman always frustrated them in time, Once the seats allotted to the Freshmen were painted green, mottoes were daubed on the walls, and the building was wantonly defaced; later (in 1870), stripes like those on a barber's pole were painted on the columns in the porch of the Chapel. When President Hill, in

the absence of Dr. A. P. Peabody, conducted the exercises, a lighted bunch of fire-crackers was thrown into the pulpit, but he calmly put his foot on the fuse before the crackers exploded. When the news came of the capture of Richmond, President Hill an- nounced it after the services, and the students went out singing " Old Hundred."

After President Eliot's accession (1869) the choir was discontinued, and the whole body of students, led by the Glee Club, sang, using a book of "Melodies and Hymns," compiled in 1870. Each student was allowed fifty unexcused absences during the year ; the number being reduced to forty in the case of those who were excused on Mondays. Each uncxcused absence counted three censure marks; each tardiness counted eight. The "prayer line " included all students who roomed within a third of a mile of the Chapel. When the unexcused "cuts " amounted to ten, the student was privately admonished ; at twenty "a public admonition " was given, but no longer in public; after forty cuts, the student was suspended. These punishments were regulated by the Dean. Parents who objected on religious ground to their sons' attendance at Chapel, could have them perma- nently excused.

But already public sentiment began to show itself against compulsory attendance at religious services. It was argued that a student who, after a hasty toilet, goes to Chapel and listens perfunctorily to the reading of the Scriptures and to prayers and hymns, could not be expected to derive much good therefrom; an empty stomach does not conduce to a devotional frame of mind. But the conservatives for a long time opposed any change; it was necessary, they said, to have some means for getting the students up in the morning, and prayers suhserved this end exactly. The would-be reformers replied that it was hardly decorous to convert an avowedly religious ceremony into a mere academic roll-call. Then the conserva- tives insisted that to abolish compulsory attendance would be to justify those critics of the College who were continually charging Harvard with irreligion. The reformers retorted that it was Pharisaical to pre- tend that the majority of the students attended Chapel in a worshipful spirit, and that it would be better honestly to allow each student to choose for himself. But the conservatives long prevailed.

From September, 1872, to February, 1873, morning prayers were discontinued while alterations were mak- ingin Appleton Chapel. President Eliot, in his Report for that year, said : "The Faculty thus tried, quite in- voluntarily, an interesting experiment in College dis- cipline. It has been a common opinion that morning prayers were not only right and helpful in themselves, but also necessary to College discipline, partly as a morning roll-call and partly as a means of enforcing continuous residence. It was therefore interesting to observe that the omission of morning prayers for nearly five months, at the time of year when the days

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are shortest and coldest, had no ill effects whatever on College order or discipline. There was no increased irregularity of attendance at morning exercises, no unusual number of absences, and, in fact, no visible effect upon the other exercises of the College, or upon the quiet and order of the place. The Professors and other teachers living beyond the sound of the prayer- bell would not have known from any effect produced upon their work with the students that morning prayers had been intermitted." In spite of this practical experiment, however, the Overseers clung to the old custom, and vetoed a vote of the Corporation to make attendance at prayers voluntary. In Novem- ber, 1874, Sunday morning prayers were abolished, Sunday evening prayers having been discontinued in 1766. But the agitation was not abandoned, and finally, in October, 1886, attendance at daily prayers and Sunday services ceased to be compulsory. Since that time the services have been performed in rota- tion by the Plummer Professor, or by one of the five preachers to the University appointed annually from among conspicuous clergymen of various denomina- tions. The services are short, and the average attend- ance of students who go of their own accord has been satisfactory. The preacher for the time being meets any students who wish to confer with him every morning during his term. Exercises, with a sermon, are also held on Sunday evenings in Appleton Chapel; and during the winter months a " Vesper Service " is held every Thursday at five o'clock, at which the singing is performed in part by the congregation, and in part by a choir of boys and by soloists especially engaged. The cost of maintaining these various re- ligious exercises was $7555.33 for the year 1888-89.

DISCIPLINE .- In the foregoing pages I have given an account of some of the laws by which the students were formerly governed, and of some of the ways in which the ever-fertile undergraduate mind evaded or contravened them. I propose now to describe a little more fully the various codes of College discipline, and some of the famous instances when the students, throwing over all restraint, lived in open rebellion with their governors. One fact is impressed upon us in reviewing this department of college life : discon- tent and rebellion were vehement just in proportion to the burden of repression. College students are men "in the making;" they are endowed with a large amount of human nature-a truth which Fac- ulties have often overlooked ; they can usually be led more easily than they can be driven ; and asthey have been permitted larger liberty, they have behaved with greater decorum.

At the outset, Harvard being a seminary which scholars entered at thirteen and left at seventeen, the discipline was stern, of the Puritan type of stern- ness. The Laws, Liberties and Orders of 1642 an- nounced that "} 2. Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life ; John xvi, 13." 26. ' fine, or whipping in the Hall openly, as the nature of

"They shall eschew all profanation of God's holy name, attributes, words, ordinances, and times of worship ; and study, with reverence and love, care- fully to retain God and his truth in their minds." ¿7. "They shall honor as their parents, magistrates, elders, tutors and aged persons, by being silent in their presence (except they be called on to answer), not gainsaying ; showing all those laudable expres- sions of honor and reverence in their presence that are in use, or bowing before them, standing uncov- ered, or the like." ¿ 8. "They shall be slow to speak, and eschew not only oaths, lies, and uncertain ru- mors, but likewise all idle, foolish, bitter, scoffing, frothy, wanton words, and offensive questions." ¿ 9. " None shall pragmatically intrude or intermeddle in other men's affairs." ¿11. "None shall, under any pretence whatsoever, frequent the company and so- 'ciety of such men as lead an unjust and dissolute life. Neither shall any, without license of the Over- seers of the College, be of the artillery or trainband. Nor shall any, without the license of the Overseers of the College, his Tutor's leave, or, in his absence, the call of parents and guardians, go out to another town." ¿12. " No scholar shall buy, sell, or exchange anything, to the value of sixpence, without the allow- ance of his parents, guardians, or Tutors; and who- soever is found to have sold or bought any such thing without acquainting their Tutors or parents, shall forfeit the value of the commodity, or the re- storing of it, according to the discretion of the President." ¿17. "If any scholar shall transgress any of the laws of God, or the House, out of per- verseness, or apparent negligence, after twice ad- monition, he shall be liable, if not adultus, to correc- tion ; if adultus, his name shall be given up to the Overseers of the College that he may be publicly dealt with after the desert of his fault; but in greater offenses such gradual proceeding shall not be exer- cised."

A little later (May 6, 1650) the Overseers passed an order prohibiting students, without permission, from' being "present at or in any of the public civil meetings, or concourse of people, as courts of justice, elections, fairs, or at military exercise, in the time or hours of the college exercise, public or private. Neither shall any scholar exercise himself in any military band, unless of known gravity, and of ap- proved sober and virtuous conversation, and that with the leave of the President and his Tutor. No scholar shall take tobacco, unless permitted by the Presi- dent, with the consent of their parents and guardians, and on good reason first given by a physician, and then in a sober and private manner." On October 21, 1656, the General Court ordered "that the Presi- dent and Fellows of Harvard College, for the time being, or the major part of them, are hereby empow- ered, according to their best discretion, to punish all misdemeanors of the youth in their Society, either by

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the offence shall require, not exceeding ten shillings or ten stripes for one offence." A record of the Cor- poration for June 10, 1659, after stating that "there are great complaints of the exorbitant practices of some students of this College, by their abusive words and actions to the watch of the town," declares that the watch, " from time to time, and at all times, shall have full power of inspection into the manner and orders of all persons related to the College, whether within or without the precincts of the said College houses and lands." But it is forbidden " that any of the said watchmen should lay violent hands on any of the students, being found within the precincts of the College yards, otherwise than so they may secure them until they may inform the President or some of the Fellows. Neither shall they in any case break into their chambers or studies without special orders from the President or Fellows. .

Also, in case

any student . . shall be found absent from his lodging after nine o'clock at night, he shall be re- sponsible for and to all complaints of disorder of this kind, that, by testimony of the watch or others, shall appear to be done by any student . . and shall be adjudged guilty of the said crime, unless he can purge himself by sufficient witness." Another record of the Corporation (March 27, 1682) declares that " Whereas great complaints have been made and proved against X., for his abusive carriage, in re- quiring some of the Freshmen to go upon his private errands, and in striking the said Freshmen ; and for his scandalous negligence as to those duties that by the laws of the College he is bound to attend ; and having persisted obstinately in his will, notwith- standing means used to reclaim him, and also refused to attend the Corporation, when this day required ; he is therefore sentenced, in the first place, to be de- prived of the pension heretofore allowed him, also to be expelled the College, and in case he shall pre- sume, after twenty-four hours are past, to appear within the College walls, that then the Fellows of the place cause him to appear before the civil au- thority."

From these records of the seventeenth century we can form some idea of the discipline and punishments to which the first two generations of Harvard students were subjected. By the character of a law we infer the nature of the offense which it is intended to pre- vent. Those early students were awed by the relig- ions menaces which their misdemeanors brought down upon them; and when, in spite of theological terrors, they disobeyed, they were flogged ; finally, if stripes and expulsion failed, they might be handed over to the civil authorities. We wonder how many students presented a doctor's certificate that the use of tobacco, " in a sober and private manner," would benefit their health, and how often the town watch- man was beaten or harassed. We may be sure that the Tutors were restrained by no softness of heart from applying salutary doses of birch to delinquents

who could not be cured by milder remedies : the Pu- ritan master, like the Puritan father, believed that he whipped Satan when he whipped a refractory boy, and he was only too piously glad to smite the arch- enemy who lurked beneath the skin of an undergradu- ate. From Judge Sewall's Diary we get a description of one of these floggings, in 1674. The culprit, who had been guilty of "speaking blasphemous words," was sentenced to be "publicly whipped before all the scholars," to be " suspended from taking his bache- lor's degree," and "to sit alone by himself uncovered at meals during the pleasure of the President and Fellows." The sentence was twice read before the officers, students and some of the Overseers, in the library : the offender knelt down; the President prayed ; then came the flogging; after which the President closed the ceremonies with another prayer. In a preceding section I have alluded to another form of punishment-the public confession of their sins by guilty students.

While all the undergraduates were subjected to this austere correction from above, the lot of the Fresh- man was peculiarly hard, for he was amenable not only to the College officers, but also to the upper classmen. Indeed, down to the present century, he occupied a position similar to that of a "fag" at the English public schools. "The Ancient Customs of Harvard College" contain the following provisions : " 1. No Freshman shall wear his hat in the College yard, unless it rains, hails or snows; provided, he be on foot, and have not both hands full. 2. No Under- graduate shall wear his hat in the College yard when any of the Governors are there; and no Bachelor when the President is there. 3. Freshmen are to consider all the other Classes as their Seniors. 4. No Freshman shall speak to a Senior with his hat on ; or have it on in a Senior's chamber, or in his own if a Senior be there. 6. All Freshmen (except those em- ployed by the Immediate Government) shall be obliged to go on any errand (except such as shall be judged improper by some one in the Government) for any of his Seniors, Graduates or Undergraduates, at any time, except in studying hours or after 9 o'clock in the evening. 7. A Senior Sophister has authority to take a Freshman from a Sophomore, a Middle Bache- lor from a Junior Sophister, a Master from a Se- nior Sophister, and any Governor of the College from a Master. 8. Every Freshman, before he goes for the person who takes him away (unless it be one in the Government), shall return and inform the per- son from whom he is taken. 9. No Freshman, when sent ou an errand, shall make any unnecessary delay, neglect to make due return, or go away until dis- missed by the person who sent him. 10. No Fresh - man shall be detained by a Senior when not actually employed on some suitable errand. 11. No Freshman shall be obliged to observe any order of a Senior to come to him or go on any errand for him, unless he be wanted immediately. 12. No Freshman, when

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sent on an errand, shall tell who he is going for, un- less he be asked ; nor to tell what he is going for, uuless asked by a Governor. 13. When any person knocks at a Freshman's door, except in studying time, he shall immediately open the door without inquiring who is there. 14. No scholar shall call up or down, to or from, any chamber in the College, nor (15) play football or any other game in the Yard, or throw anything across the Yard. 16. The Freshman shall furnish the batts, balls and footballs for the use of the students, to be kept at the Battery. 17. Every Freshman shall pay the Butler for putting up his name in the Buttery. 18. Strict attention shall be paid by all the students to the common rules of clean- liness, decency and politeness. The Sophomores shall publish these customs to the Freshman in the Chapel whenever ordered by any in the Government; at which time the Freshmen are enjoined to keep their places in their seats, and attend with decency to the reading."

In early times discipline was supervised not only by the President and Tutors, but also by the Corpo- ration and Overseers. As the College grew in num- bers, however, and petty offences demanding prompt attention came up frequently, and as the convening of either Board required some delay, the conduct of the undergraduates fell more and more to the charge of the officers of Immediate Government, whose inde- pendent records date from September, 1725. Just a century later (June, 1825) the Immediate Govern- ment received the official title of "Faculty of the University." That the early studeuts, notwithstand- ing the severity of the regulations which hemmed them about, did not submit meekly, we have good reason to suppose, although the records that exist are few. We may remember, however, that the Under- graduates, instigated by persons unknown, raised so great a commotion against President Hoar that he deemed it prudent to resign (1675). Hints reach us of occasional excesses at the end of the seventeenth century, and during the long struggle of the Mathers to control the College, accusations of immorality, uu- godliness and disorders were rained upon it by those Draconic moralists and their friends. Cotton Mather, whose information concerning the acts and plots of Satan were always recent and precise, not only saw "Satan beginning a terrible shake in the churches of New England," but that he had taken up his quarters at Harvard College, whence he could be dislodged only by the election of Cotton Mather to the Presi- dency ; which his Diabolical Majesty took care to prevent by sowing guile and lies against Mr. Mather in the hearts of the Governors of that seminary. Dis- content thus fomented rose to such a point that the Overseers sent a committee to visit the College. It reported that although there was a considerable number of virtuous and studious youth, yet there had been a practice of several immoralities-particularly stealing, lying, swearing, idleness, picking of locks and too

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 49

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034