Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-10-13


having more of the dramatic element
than the college exhibitions and COM
mencements, certainly had no lack of
attendants. The impassioned and poet
ical rendering which was once given by
a young academician 70 the poem COM
menclng-
ain the slumbers OF midnight the sailor boyla
drought down the house" in manner
never known at the commandments of
of that college; and 1t constituted a
model of imitation for college students
for long time afterwards. This same
young man is now prominent editor
In New York city, has been Senator in
the New York Assembly, came off first
best in a contest with an eminent pre-
late, and though his politics are at pres
ent execrable, he is nevertheless in sit
uation to "look down upon" good
many of his college cotemporares-ifhe
can find them We could mention "a
few more Of the same sort" but we are
compelled to be brief Our object is
simply to furnish an antidote to that
part of Educators" remarks in which
he attempts to show that academy stu
dents, and nearly all kinds of students
are necessarily despised underlings
whenever they find themselves in the
august presence of regular freshmen
and sophomores. .,....-
That there is to be found in every
species and variety of the genus homo
disposition to put on aristocratical airs,
in consequence of some fancied or real
superiority is undeniable. In Green
land, he who catches the most seals
CLOCKS down" with raised eyebrows"
upon the poor fellow who can catch
none. On the Isle of Shoals, the same
Is true of the cod fishermen; and every
where, those who have the most money
and the finest clothes affect superiority
over those who have less. College dis
tinctions have always existed, and still
exist, but they are growing beautifully
less. Time was when freshman had
to pull off his hat to sophomore
when he had to be hazed, ducked,
smoked, and abused generally, without
redress and without a murmur; bat
fit Hum is now, or soon will be, writ
ten upon all such relics of dark ages.
Every intelligent young gentleman
knows, or may know, even before he
| goes to college, that these distinctions
are unmportant and temporary in their
character. Who among all the seniors
and sophomores of Watewille that a
few years ago Cooked down" upon the
freshman Butler, could be looked up now?
How many ever heard the name of the
graduate who "took the first part" over
| Daniel Webster2 Who knows or cares
| whether some of the most eminent di-
vines and statesmen in the land We're
once ''partialists" or regulars"
Such artificial and childish distinC-
tions Of caste are of precious little value
in preparing men for the stern realities
to be encountered Sin the bivouac OF
life" They will not be likely to act
with much weight upon the sound prac-
tical sence which characterizes the
great body of our legislators. They
never have to any great extent infu-
enced the minds of earnest young men.
The record Of hundreds who have burnt
the midnight oil, endured hardships and
pinching poverty, chopped wood, mauled
rails, and exiled themselves during the
time of their preparatory training, from
respectable" society, constitutes suf-
| ficient argument In refutation of the
idea that young men of FIXED PURPOSE
will bolt at the sight of such contempt
ible bugbear as that of being "looked
down upon" w. .y III.
With regard to the present condition
of the scientific departments OF Harvard,
Dartmouth and Yale, we have at hand
no very recent data. We do not believe
that they are in a very languishing con-
dition. There are many graduates from
these schools to be found in positions oil
great responsibility and Importance,
who have been fitted for their callings as
they could not have been In college
proper" 4
| DR.. Wayiand, the former president of
Brown University, having become quite
aged, resigned a few years ago and was
succeeded by the Rev. Barnas Sears,
d. D., who Is in some respects almost
the antipode Of DR.. Wayland. He is one
of the best Greek, Latin and German
scholars in the land, and firm friend of
the college proper" If any executive
| officer could be supposed to turn aside
from the footsteps Of his predecessors,
| DR.. s. would be the very man. From the
last catalogue, however, and from other
reliable sources, we Anow that the
course of study, adopted at the recon-
mendation Of DR.. Wayland, has not been
abandoned, or radically changed, under
the administration of his SUCCESSOR
| There was time when the new system