A Collection of College Words and Customs. Benjamin Homer Hall
to which each may have attained. This information is communicated to him by letter by his classmates, and he is in consequence prepared to answer any inquiries relative to any member of the class. At his death, the book passes into the hands of one of the Class Committee, and at their death, into those of some surviving member of the class; and when the class has at length become extinct, it is deposited on the shelves of the College Library.
The Class Book also contains a full list of all persons who have at any time been members of the class, together with such information as can be gathered in reference to them; and an account of the prizes, deturs, parts at Exhibitions and Commencement, degrees, etc., of all its members. Into it are also copied the Class Oration, Poem, and Ode, and the Secretary's report of the class meeting, at which the officers were elected. It is also intended to contain the records of all future class meetings, and the accounts of the Class Secretary, who is ex officio Class Treasurer and Chairman of the Class Committee. By virtue of his office of Class Treasurer, he procures the Cradle for the successful candidate, and keeps in his possession the Class Fund, which is sometimes raised to defray the accruing expenses of the Class in future times.
In the Harvardiana, Vol. IV., is an extract from the Class Book of 1838, which is very curious and unique. To this is appended the following note:—"It may be necessary to inform many of our readers, that the Class Book is a large volume, in which autobiographical sketches of the members of each graduating class are recorded, and which is left in the hands of the Class Secretary."
CLASS CANE. At Union College, as a mark of distinction, a class cane was for a time carried by the members of the Junior Class.
The Juniors, although on the whole a clever set of fellows, lean perhaps with too nonchalant an air on their class canes.—Sophomore Independent, Union College, Nov. 1854.
They will refer to their class cane, that mark of decrepitude and imbecility, for old men use canes.—Ibid.
CLASS CAP. At Hamilton College, it is customary for the Sophomores to appear in a class cap on the Junior Exhibition day, which is worn generally during part of the third term.
In American colleges, students frequently endeavor to adopt distinctive dresses, but the attempt is usually followed by failure. One of these attempts is pleasantly alluded to in the Williams Monthly Miscellany. "In a late number, the ambition for whiskers was made the subject of a remark. The ambition of college has since taken a somewhat different turn. We allude to the class caps, which have been introduced in one or two of the classes. The Freshmen were the first to appear in this species of uniform, a few days since at evening prayers; the cap which they have adopted is quite tasteful. The Sophomores, not to be outdone, have voted to adopt the tarpaulin, having, no doubt, become proficients in navigation, as lucidly explained in one of their text-books. The Juniors we understand, will follow suit soon. We hardly know what is left for the Seniors, unless it be to go bare-headed."—1845, p. 464.
CLASS COMMITTEE. At Harvard College a committee of two persons, joined with the Class Secretary, who is ex officio its chairman, whose duty it is, after the class has graduated, during their lives to call class meetings, whenever they deem it advisable, and to attend to all other business relating to the class.
See under CLASS BOOK.
CLASS CRADLE. For some years it has been customary at Harvard College for the Senior Class, at the meeting for the election of the officers of Class Day, &c., to appropriate a certain sum of money, usually not exceeding fifty dollars, for the purchase of a cradle, to be given to the first member of the class to whom a child is born in lawful wedlock at a suitable time after marriage. This sum is intrusted to the hands of the Class Secretary, who is expected to transmit the present to the successful candidate upon the receipt of the requisite information. In one instance a Baby-jumper was voted by the class, to be given to the second member who should be blessed as above stated.
CLASS CUP. It is a theory at Yale College, that each class appropriates at graduating a certain amount of money for the purchase of a silver cup, to be given, in the name of the class, to the first member to whom a child shall be born in lawful wedlock at a suitable time after marriage. Although the presentation of the class cup is often alluded to, yet it is believed that the gift has in no instance been bestowed. It is to be regretted that a custom so agreeable in theory could not be reduced to practice.
Each man's mind was made up
To obtain the "Class Cup." Presentation Day Songs, June 14, 1854.
See SILVER CUP.
CLASS DAY. The custom at Harvard College of observing with appropriate exercises the day on which the Senior Class finish their studies, is of a very early date. The first notice which appears in reference to this subject is contained in an account of the disorders which began to prevail among the students about the year 1760. Among the evils to be remedied are mentioned the "disorders upon the day of the Senior Sophisters meeting to choose the officers of the class," when "it was usual for each scholar to bring a bottle of wine with him, which practice the committee (that reported upon it) apprehend has a natural tendency to produce disorders." But the disturbances were not wholly confined to the meeting when the officers of Class Day were chosen; they occurred also on Class Day, and it was for this reason that frequent attempts were made at this period, by the College government, to suppress its observance. How far their efforts succeeded is not known, but it is safe to conclude that greater interruptions were occasioned by the war of the Revolution, than by the attempts to abolish what it would have been wiser to have reformed.
In a MS. Journal, under date of June 21st, 1791, is the following entry: "Neither the valedictory oration by Ward, nor poem by Walton, was delivered, on account of a division in the class, and also because several were gone home." How long previous to this the 21st of June had been the day chosen for the exercises of the class, is uncertain; but for many years after, unless for special reasons, this period was regularly selected for that purpose. Another extract from the MS. above mentioned, under date of June 21st, 1792, reads: "A valedictory poem was delivered by Paine 1st, and a valedictory Latin oration by Abiel Abbott."
The biographer of Mr. Robert Treat Paine, referring to the poem noticed in the above memorandum, says: "The 21st of every June, till of late years, has been the day on which the members of the Senior Class closed their collegiate studies, and retired to make preparations for the ensuing Commencement. On this day it was usual for one member to deliver an oration, and another a poem; such members being appointed by their classmates. The Valedictory Poem of Mr. Paine, a tender, correct, and beautiful effusion of feeling and taste, was received by the audience with applause and tears." In another place he speaks on the same subject, as follows: "The solemnity which produced this poem is extremely interesting; and, being of ancient date, it is to be hoped that it may never fall into disuse. His affection for the University Mr. Paine cherished as one of his most sacred principles. Of this poem, Mr. Paine always spoke as one of his happiest efforts. Coming from so young a man, it is certainly very creditable, and promises more, I fear, than the untoward circumstances of his after life would permit him to perform."—Paine's Works, Ed. 1812, pp. xxvii., 439.
It was always customary, near the close of the last century, for those who bore the honors of Class Day, to treat their friends according to the style of the time, and there was scarcely a graduate who did not provide an entertainment of such sort as he could afford. An account of the exercises of the day at this period may not be uninteresting. It is from the Diary which is above referred to.
"20th (Thursday). This day for special reasons the valedictory poem and oration were performed. The order of the day was this. At ten, the class walked in procession to the President's, and escorted him, the Professors, and Tutors, to the Chapel, preceded by the band playing solemn music.
"The President began with a short prayer. He then read a chapter in the Bible; after this he prayed again; Cutler then delivered his poem. Then the singing club, accompanied by the band, performed Williams's Friendship. This was succeeded by a valedictory Latin Oration by Jackson. We then formed, and waited on the government to the President's, where we were very respectably treated with wine, &c.