New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-02-14
UNIVERSITY DISCIPLINE.

UNIVERSITY DISCIPLINE.
Shaving the Presidents horse-lOcking
Proctors door upon the notwithstanding the
Stewards fowls and young pigs-hanging an
obnoxious Tutor in effigy-putting asafetida
upon the stove Of the lecture -room--cutting the
chapel bell-rope-thcse and similar exploits
were, in the old days, sufficient to satisfy the
mischevous zeal of the most enterprslng
Sophomore. Irregularities like these-the in
voluntary e6lux Of youthful spirits-although
deserving of censure and of moderate penalties,
were free from that element of malice which,
in the eve of the law, and in more important
matters, constitutes 2 crime. Unfortunately,
there seems to be at this time an inclination
10 carry these freaks quite beyond the limits
of federation. IL is not long since a very
serious event. involving human life, occurred
in Harvard College, and this was preceded by
an attempt to blow up the Chapel of the Uni
vcrsity At the Agricultural College in Amherst,
Mass, q party Of six students broke into the
room of one Brown, also q student, who very
properly defended himself against them as he
would against any other burglars. One OF the
ASSISTANTS was 0t is supposedly mortally
wounded, and the others, we are told, will
"carry to their graves reminders of their
adventure which, We trust will adj
monish them that it is the best policy always
to behave like gentlemen.
We think il is Gail Hamilton, in one of her
entertaining essays. who observes that "all
" boys have more or less of the savage still
"clinging to them" and morally considered,
most of our students are merely boys, freed
from parental restraint, and abandoned pretty
much TO self government, without particle of
reverence for authority, and at very critical
period of life. We suppose that TO this savage
popularity We must attribute the propensity
of the more advanced students to make those
just matrculated unhappy. The power and
the inclination to render miserable the life of
a lad lately come from the society of his Sis
tcIs, before he has had time To protect himself
bv the establishment of new friendships, would
not appear 70 argue any approXimatlng
manlinesS, but rather the reverse. Yet, in
some colleges il is the traditional custom, by
every possible device to annoy the Freshmen
merely because they are very harmless and
equally helpless. Their windows are broken;
they are subjected TO nocturnal visits their
books and furniture are injured; their hours
of study are lost in suffering, or in opposing
INVASION; and il they resist these insults in a
spirited way, they are often subjected to per
sonal ill-treatment at the hands of towards.
who always take care TO hunt their game in
couples. To torment the newcomer is con-
sider,d the choicest of amusements and
for weeks after the commencement of
the term, q considerable number of those
whose lives are professedlY devoted TO the
cultivation OF polite literature, behave like
blackguards, and indulge in Otlenses which
outside the college walls would qualify the
Offenders for the PenitentaTy. Study TO such
is of little value, since it brings no refinement
incompatible with these vulgar enjoyments, and
the "humanities" of their books are quite
thrown away upon those who have no human
ity in their hearts To meet this evil of reck-
less indulgence To which so many under
graduates abandon themselves, it may yet be
necessary to give up the whole system of dor
mitorles, rs at present established, III most coll
lcges, and to scatter the students, III order that
they may be, so far as it is possible, saved
from gregarious vices, against the practice of
which the Faculties will in vain enact laws,
which it ~ quite out of their power to enforce.
Boys are sent to college, not that they may
enjoy each others society, but for the purpose
of study; and this in the nature of things, is
q solitary occupation. The greater the number
OF students under one roof, the less, we may be
sure, will be the application. Those who hon
esty desire TO devote themselves to the Osten
sbe business of their lives have little protec-
ton against intrusion when they are forced to
live in the same building with the careless, the
idle, and tho indifferent. OF course, many
students insist upon the solitude which they
require, and refuse to have their time
wasted by those who set no value
either upon time OF opportunity but the weak
yield readily to the temptations of frivolous
conversation and of conyivial meetings, which
generally end in greater mischief. Many q
youth who, if he had been left TO himself,
would have won only honor in his college
course. has been fairly driven from his adj
herence to good resolutions, and has brought
grief and pain to the hearts of all who loved
him, simply because he found it difficult to
escape from the company of the indolent and
the dissolutc, The Faculties Of the Colleges