New-York tribune., 1902-08-17

fes only in an historical sense the remark of
Dr. William T. Harris in his editorial preface. |
that nearly all that has to be written on such /
subject concerns in way another the /
reaction Of the student against the strict life i'm
posed upon him by authority" At least, the
account OF the modern development Of student /
societies in the American universities, to which
Professor Sheldon has devoted half his book, |
shows q wide divergence from the medieval |
type Ct student amusement into paths that are
more in harmony with the objects OF academic |
training, and often quite in line with them. /
The proceedings OF literary societies and de- !
batting clubs, even of the Greek letter frater- |
mites at the present day, can hardly be cassed
reaction against the discipline of college
authority; and the athletic interests of students
are more in the way OF suPplemenung than in
opposition TO the intellectual interests Of the
college. 1t is true, a. Professor Sheldon points
out, that in the last thirty years great change
has taken place il the manners Of undergradu- |
Rtes. Old customs are Perpetuated, when they |
are perpetUated, from sense of duty tradi- |
ton The gradual disappearance Of violence is
commonly credited to the growth Of interest in
athletics; but the greater age of students upon
entering college and the general mildness of
manners Characteristic Of time have, as
Professor Sheldon thinks, been equally potent in
producing the result.
But the history Of student manners and Gus
toms down 10 these days is an entertaining
chapter Of social develo 3ment. telling of wild
and reckless violence, of mlschievous ingenuity
and amusing deviltry, that quite justifes DR..
HaTris's theory The conditions Of life the |
universities OF medieval Europe can scarcely be
appreciated al the present time. The student
organizations Of those days were only a slight
extent manifestation Of the play instinct"
They were rather directed to the creation of an
artificial citizenship to take the place Of the
natural citizenship that the students had
hnquished leaving their own cities; but they
We're full of the spirit Of riot and laWlessness
and loose living. The students Of Paris, though
under an iron discipline and under the protec-
uon Of their tonsura, attacked and slew
passersby, carried off the women committed
robberies and broke into houses In medieval
Oxford the town and gown riots reached alarm
ing proportions. and at times the feeling Of ami
mostly against them was such that students fire.
quently migrated TO other localities: and a
temporary description OF student license in
Germany gives a deplorable picture Of license
Ferging on bestiality. In that country the lot
OF the freshman ''pennaI" than
has ever befaIlen such elsewhere:
He was attached t. some older student whose
pthests he Was compelled TO obey. The seniors
forced the peunaIs 70 copy all sorts Of writing,
10 want on lheir masters guests, TO go
Eos Zen and twenty miles and even further.
II the master became stupidly drunk, the novice
must not finch bulge from him, but must
remain close at hand and serve him. helping
nm along The streets II need toe. Should the
SENIOR b- III, the juniors wait him by turns,
50 mat ne need never be alone: should ne desire
music. the Junior must play all night long
Please his idle Whim The pennaI must suffer
BLOWS and shameful personal abuse without
protest and let the other work his entire viii .
upon nm as he were nothing but a dog
There, too, the system Of student organiza-
uons was developed 10 its highest absurdity,
Ust 10 the ''Landsnannschaften, with their
intricate code Of student honor to be avenged
by dueling, and then with their rivals and
hnally SUCCESSORS the "Burschenschaften" In
English student life the old severity of discipline
shd haTbarism Of manners disappeared toward
NE eIsd Of the seventeenth century and the uni
Ferslties became more and more imitation Of
social life in London. The American colleges re-
produced as far as the conditions permitted, the
american colleges generally in the early days,
tagging was in vogue, and the rights and priEi-
leges Of the classes were carefully defined. The
same rules prevailed at Dartmouth, Yale and
Mlddlebury till about the beginning Of the
nineteenth century, though they were abolished
generation earlier at Princeton. The discipline
d Harvard most rigid. The college laws
enumerated eignty-three offences:
Most amuseTnents were forbidden The stu
vents could not hunt 20 sailing without per-
1i'lSSlon at New Haven. Theatrical perform
t5iSes billiards, cards and dice were on the
blacklist. A student might not lie down in his |